Hastings- The North Platte Bulldogs softball team started the 2013 season with a split against Omaha Gross and Omaha Skutt at the double header played in Hastings on Thursday. North Platte beat Omaha Gross 12-3 before losing to Omaha Skutt 6-1.
The Bulldogs and the Bison from McCook met Omaha Gross and Omaha Skutt in Hastings for a double header against the two Omaha schools.
North Platte played Omaha Gross in its first game of the day. The Bulldogs took the lead early before the Cougars of Omaha Gross scored three runs to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the third inning. The Bulldogs quickly responded by scoring four runs in the bottom of the third to go on top 5-3. The inning was headlined by Mikenzi Wiseman’s inside the park three-run home run. Once the Dawgs jumped on top they didn’t look back en route to a 12-3 run-rule win over Omaha Gross Catholic in six innings.
Katie Franzen started inside the circle for the Bulldogs against Omaha Gross and threw six innings, giving up just three runs with two of them earned. Franzen set the Cougars down in order the final three innings and finished with two strikeouts.
The Bulldogs scored four runs in the sixth inning to go along with the four scored in the third. Marisa Ramos had an RBI triple for the Dawgs and freshman Willow Chitty reached base four times with three singles and scored three runs to go along with two stolen bases. Bulldogs coach BJ Songster liked what she saw out of her freshman second baseman, Chitty.
“I’m very proud of her and excited to see her growth and what else she can bring to our team,” Songster said. “And I hope that it challenges the rest of our team to see what their capable of doing and create that inter squad competition.”
Omaha Skutt Catholic pitched future Nebraska Cornhusker Kaylan Jablonski against the Bulldogs in the night cap on Thursday. Jablonski was dominant for five innings, taking a no hitter in to the sixth before giving up back-to-back singles to Hannah Hays and Chitty with one out in the inning. North Platte broke up the no-hitter and the shutout in the same inning as Hays came around to score on a first and third situation when Chitty stole second base. That run was the lone run for the Bulldogs in the game and they only had three hits. Jenny Keck had the third hit with a single in the seventh inning.
The Skyhawks from Omaha Skutt Catholic did most of their damage in the second inning. They scored five runs on five hits and received some help from North Platte as the Bulldogs committed four errors in the inning. Jablonski helped her own cause with a two-RBI single in the inning then added an inside the park solo home run later in the game.
Marisa Ramos pitched the first four innings for North Platte and gave up five runs with four of them earned. All of the runs came in the second inning and Ramos showed great mental toughness by coming back out and shutting down the Skyhawks the next two innings. Keck pitched the final three innings and gave up just the solo home run to Jablonski and had one strikeout. Coach Songster was pleased with the fight the Bulldogs showed after falling down 5-0.
“I think it says a lot about our team,” Songster said. “That’s the biggest thing, to persevere; of course we want to play errorless ball, but it’s how you can bounce back and keep persevering through things.”
Jablonski finished the game with 14 strikeouts for Omaha Skutt Catholic.
The Bulldogs are now 1-1 and will next play in the LPS Invite in Lincoln on Saturday. North Platte is scheduled to play Omaha Skutt once again along with Milford and Lincoln East.
Songster said they will likely face Jablonski again for the Skyhawks and she looks forward to seeing how her players adjust.
“We know what we need to prepare for [Friday] at practice,” Songster said. “The biggest thing is making adjustments early on and I think we started doing that towards the end of [today’s] game. Hopefully they know what to expect now and we can work on those things we need to work on and we can take it to them on Saturday.”