Harrison Central softball team earns win, falls in JV thriller

The Harrison Central Lady Huskies softball team traveled to Morristown to face the Union Local Jets March 31.

After two scoreless innings, the Huskies broke into the scoring column with one run in the top of the third. Kara Blackburn led off the inning by drawing a walk. She stole second and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice. Mikayla Pelegreen followed with a single to score Blackburn.

After holding the Jets scoreless in the bottom of the third, the Huskies added three runs in the fourth. Kam Crothers opened the inning with a single, and Maddie Johnson and Jaylin Ward followed with walks. Emma Jarvis lined a single to right field to score Crothers. Blackburn reached on an error and advanced to second on the play, while Ward scored and Jarvis moved to third. After an out, Denali Stull singled to center to score Jarvis.

Union Local got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, the Jets drew a walk, and Kylie Stidd followed with a triple to score the run.

The Huskies scored their final run in the fifth. Mikayla Pelegreen led off with a walk, and Bailey Smith followed with a single to move her to second. Pelegreen, with courtesy runner Emma Palmer, advanced on a wild pitch before Pelegreen scored on a sacrifice fly by Johnson.

That capped the scoring in Harrison Central’s 5-1 victory.

Pelegreen earned the win in the circle, allowing one run on one hit and striking out seven. Ward and Pelegreen hit doubles. Stull, Smith and Pelegreen each had multiple hits.

On April 1, the Harrison Central junior varsity team played at home against the Buckeye Local JV Panthers.

Buckeye Local took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but Harrison Central answered in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Emma Jarvis singled to center field. The ball was misplayed in the outfield, allowing Jarvis to circle the bases and score.

After a scoreless second inning, the Panthers erupted for five runs in the third with the help of just one hit. The score remained 6-1 until the bottom of the fourth, when Kate Cumings led off with a double and later scored on a single by Halei Sweeney.

Both teams scored one run in the fifth. Harrison Central’s run came when Emma Jarvis singled and later scored on a three-base error off the bat of Ava Huffman.

Buckeye Local added two more runs in the sixth. The Huskies matched them when Sweeney reached on an error to start the inning. Reagan Applegarth advanced all the way to third on another Buckeye Local error and later scored on an infield play.

The seventh inning began with Harrison Central trailing 9-5. Buckeye Local scored three runs in the top of the inning to go ahead 12-5. The Huskies mounted a furious rally in the bottom of the seventh. Three consecutive hits, capped by a Maddie Johnson triple, scored one run. After a flyout, three straight Huskies reached on errors. A groundout and another Panthers error helped Harrison Central score six runs.

Emma Palmer, Emma Jarvis and Kate Cumings each collected two hits. The rally fell one run short, and Buckeye Local escaped with a 12-11 win.

Following the trip to Ironton, the Huskies will face a busy week. Harrison Central will host Buckeye Local on Tuesday, travel to Rayland to face the Panthers again on Wednesday, play at Beaver Local on Thursday, visit East Liverpool on Friday and finish the week at Ridgewood for a doubleheader Saturday.