SLUMP-BUSTERS
FRANKLIN TWP. — Growing pains were on display all game long between Bloomsburg and Southern Columbia softball Tuesday afternoon.
Bloomsburg, though, had the benefit of power hitting at the plate and Maddie Roberts working her way out of jams in the circle. It all added up to the Panthers' first win of the year, a 6-1 defeat of the Tigers.
"It feels good [to be in the win column]," Bloomsburg coach Joe Devine said. "It's been a long time coming."
Bloomsburg got the scoring started with a bang in the third. With Kelly Scherer on first, Maddy Devine took the second pitch of her at-bat and pulled a line drive to right for a two-run home run for the game's first runs. She and her father celebrated by mimicking New York Mets' slugger Pete Alonso's home run celebration as she rounded third base, saying the big Mets fans "kind of adopted it."
The Panthers (1-7) dugout was evidently excited for offensive success, and the middle of the order played like it by extending the lead in the frame. Cleanup hitter Kara Bogdanowicz tripled home Maddie Roberts, who singled in the previous at-bat, with a ball hit along the line in right. Bogdanowicz scored on a botched pickoff attempt from the catcher.
"Our offense has been struggling lately, but we've been playing some really good teams, and piecing together some really good at-bats as the season's been progressing," Maddy Devine said. "I was glad to see some runs get tacked on there."
That run support was all Roberts needed in the circle, working her way out of trouble on numerous occasions.
The Tigers had little issue getting runners aboard against the senior, working six walks and collecting five hits. They, however, couldn't find the big hit to push runs across.
They stranded 10 runners on base and went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
"We've been scuffling for a few weeks," Southern coach Don Hunt said. "... We need to be more disciplined and couldn't get a two-out hit. We left numerous runners on second and third. The whole difference today boiled down to three or four pitches.
"They got some big hits, obviously the home run is a big hit. In a tight game, those three or four pitches make all the difference in the world."
In the third inning, Vivien Miller worked a leadoff walk and Alana Reuter doubled as part of a 2-for-3 day. Roberts got out of the no-out jam in three pitches with three infield groundouts.
In the fifth, Jenson Purnell drove in Maddie Yost -- who reached via an infield single after Bogdanowicz couldn't throw her out from her knees following a great diving snag — from second for the Tigers only run. Roberts followed suit with a walk to Emily Reese to load the bases but got out of the rough patch by striking out Aubrey Miller.
Roberts had one more tough situation to get out of in the sixth. This time, Roberts was on the receiving end of a Yost popup and threw out Reuter in time at first.
"I knew that I could trust the field and attack the hitters. I had good defenders backing me," Roberts said. "We had a really good warmup and came out strong. I knew that I could just have them hit it if I got in trouble."
The Panthers tacked on insurance runs for Roberts in the fourth after some more two-out hitting. With Kiana Scherer on second via a single up the middle and Devine — who also doubled in the contest — on first fresh off a walk, Maddie Morris smashed the first pitch of her at-bat to right-center for a two-run double.
"It feels better [to get better at-bats], we've been passive the first six games and you saw that tonight a little bit," Joe Devine said. "We're still trying to get in a mode of swinging until it's a ball, and not I'm going to watch the ball and make a decision. A lot of girls are freezing up because of that, but that's part of a young, inexperienced team. It was good to see them get a little more aggressive tonight."
The Panthers struck out nine times, five of them looking against a pair of freshmen arms, Yost and Reuter. That's just part of the reason Hunt left the contest optimistic despite being on the wrong end of the game.
"It's a growing process, a maturing process when you have five major contributors on this being freshmen or sophomores. It's a young group, but it's coming together," Hunt said. "... There's no reason not to be [optimistic] because they work hard every day in practice, it's just a matter of getting it to carry over into games."
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