On Thursday afternoon, after being on the road since mid March, head coach Tony Baron and his BHHS girls varsity softball team hosted a strong North Bend Lady Bulldogs team, boasting an undefeated record so far in non-league preseason play.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the first inning with two runs in the top of the first to take an early 0-2 lead. The Bruin girls wasted no time answering the North Bend offense with a first inning four run rally of their own to take a 4-2 lead after the first.
Pitching dominated the second as the Bruin girls starting pitcher, junior Emmy Armstrong held the Lady Bulldogs scoreless in the top of the second, only to have North Bend pitching return the favor in the bottom half of the second, leaving the score 4-2.
North Bend managed to push one runner around the bases in the top of the third to cut into the Bruin girls lead, but the Bruin girls could not answer in the bottom of the third.
The Bruin girls defense shut down North Bend in the top of the fourth, holding the Lady Bulldogs scoreless before putting up 5 runs in the bottom half of the inning after a four run grand slam by senior, Abbie Deshon, giving the Bruin girls a 9-3 lead after four.
In the fifth, North Bend answered, getting six runners across the plate to tie the Bruin girls at 9-9 halfway through the fifth. The Bruin girls answered with two runs of their own to maintain an 11-9 lead going into the sixth.
The Lady Bulldogs added three more runs in the top of the sixth that went unanswered by the Bruin girls, before North Bend put up seven points in the top of the seventh giving North Bend an eight point lead going into the bottom of the ninth. The Bruin girls would add the runs in the bottom of the ninth as the Lady Bulldogs took the 19-14 win.
The Bruin girls will be home again this Tuesday, April 7th, hosting the 2-4 Marshfield Lady Pirates with first pitch scheduled for 4:30pm, Tuesday afternoon.
