Bellevue grinds out its third win of season over Perkins

BELLEVUE — Logan Hurst wasn't going to quite go to the cliché. It would have been simple for the Bellevue softball coach to go to the old saying of it's hard to beat a team three times in one season. He took a different approach. "I kept nailing in their heads that starting today, records don't matter," Hurst said. "Everyone is in the bracket and nothing matters up to this point. We have to come out and play like we're playing the defending state champions. We had to bring our best." Despite two wins earlier this season over Perkins, Bellevue had to bring a new fire Wednesday. The fourth-seeded Lady Red did, scoring in five of the six innings they hit in to defeat fifth-seeded Perkins 8-3 in a Division IV tournament opener. Bellevue improved to 10-11 and will face third-seeded Clyde at 5 p.m. Tuesday in a district semifinal at Lions Park in Castalia. "They're ready. We have the scouting report," said Hurst of facing the Fliers. "It's hard to beat a team three times. They're not going to beat us a third time. That's the approach." The Lady Red took advantage of three walks from Perkins pitcher Maycee Bohn in the first inning. Down 1-0 after a run-scoring single by Aubrey Ransom in the top half of the frame, a wild pitch scored Chloe Easterwood before Addison Rich blooped an RBI single into left to go up 2-1. Perkins (9-13) tied the game in the top of the second on an RBI double from Alayna Wade, but the Lady Red kept coming. Lianna Sosa singled and stole second before scoring on Jaelynn Powers' hit. An RBI groundout from Ryleigh Knutti helped Bellevue to a 5-2 lead. "The score they beat us by was quite a bit, but we were in the game," Perkins coach Scott Dickman said. "It was the little things that came back to bite us. That's been the story of our year, to be honest." The Lady Red added two more runs in the third inning for a 7-2 advantage. That allowed enough support for Mallory Hay. The sophomore hurler only gave up one run after the second inning. She put the Pirates down in the third inning, got out of a second and third jam with a groundout in the fourth and worked around a leadoff walk to Quanise Rogers in the fifth. "She's definitely been hot lately," said Hurst of Hay. "She's had a nagging hip injury that comes and goes, so we've been really trying to work her back to 100 percent. She's playing well at the right time of the year. She's hitting spots and communicating well with me so we can make adjustments." Hay also reached base in all four of her plate appearances. She walked in the first and third and singled in the second and fifth. "That will definitely boost her confidence a little bit," Hurst said. "She is a huge overthinker where she gets in her head a lot. It's simple: see the ball, hit the ball. That's all she needs to do. She needs to trust her reps and trust her stuff." Despite some command issues, Bohn kept Perkins in the game. She worked in and out of some trouble. She needed just seven pitches to get through the fourth inning and gave up single runs in the fifth and sixth. "I thought Maycee pitched a great game," Dickman said. "She gets those first two outs in the fifth inning and later that girl hits one just behind first base. She executed the pitch. It's heartbreaking for me that she's doing what we ask her to do and they still dump one into right field. It's gut-wrenching because that kid works hard." Bohn threw 95 pitches the first three innings, but needed just 34 the final three. "We made her work, but tip your cap because they came with a different approach," Hurst said. "We did not have her number as well as we did the first two times. She kept us on our toes moving things in and out. We have a few that like to chase the high cheese, but we needed to lay off of that." Bellevue is off Thursday before traveling to Sandusky on Friday. Perkins wraps up its season Thursday by hosting South Central. It'll give the Pirates' seniors one more chance to play on their home field. "I love that for them," Dickman said. "They get to hopefully go out with a win. We'll throw everything at them and try to get the win." Perkins 110 001 0 — 3 6 3 Bellevue 232 011 x — 9 10 0 WP: Hay. LP: Bohn. 2B: (P) Wade, Thompson; (B) Meyer, Easterwood