There is no doubt that the effort is there for Crawfordsville softball. Saturday the Athenians hosted Covington and battled the Trojans to the end, but fell 10-6 — and are still searching for their first win.
The backbreaker came in the top of the seventh when pitcher Briley Peyton hit a three-run home run to extend the Trojans lead to 10-6.
“We ended up giving them too many extra batters today,” Crawfordsville coach Kevin Kellerman said. “We walked seven and hit three so there’s ten extra runners on base that allowed them to continue an inning and it came back to bite us at points today.”
Covington was able to load the bases in three of the seven innings. In two of those three circumstances Crawfordsville (0-17, 0-7 SAC) was able to get out of the jam by allowing just a single run to score and the other time held the Trojans scoreless. The second time the Trojans had the bases loaded came in the top of the fourth and Shiann Haymaker was able to send one over the left field wall for a grand slam.
Despite still not being able to get their first win of the season, the Athenian offense has started to find its groove. Seniors Olivia Reed and Allyson Barton led the way at the top of the lineup on Saturday. Barton ended a perfect 4-4 with two RBI’s while Reed had three hits, one of which was a two-run home run. Freshman Briley Dillon picked up her first career homerun as well.
“They’re starting to believe in themselves,” Kellerman said. “Our hitting is getting noticeably better across our lineup and that’s allowing us to stay in more games. The next step is just to get more timely hits and string a few more together.”
The Athenians will be back in action on Tuesday as the take on Sagamore Conference foe Western Boone.
