SOFTBALL
Big Spring 3, Greencastle-Antrim 1: A big swing in the bottom of the sixth inning by Victoria Rinaldi was the difference as the Bulldogs snapped an 8-game win streak by the Blue Devils and shook up the Mid Penn Colonial standings in a game in Newville on Tuesday afternoon.
Bailey Leckron
Greencastle (15-2, 12-1 MPC) could have locked up the Colonial title with a win. If G-A and Big Spring (15-4, 12-1 MPC) win their final division game, they will be co-champions.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Hannah Darhower and Kendall Boring-Gutshall drew walks off Blue Devil pitcher Kiersten Swain — her only walks of the game — and Rinaldi powered a home run over the fence in left-centerfield.
“Kiersten was mowing them down, then she just had some bad timing with those walks,” G-A coach Mark DeCarli said. “And she made a mistake on the home run.”
Swain (9-1) allowed only 3 hits and struck out 12. Her Big Spring counterpart, Rilee Stewart, kept the potent G-A offense at bay. She allowed only 4 hits and 2 walks, struck out 5 and did not give up an earned run.
DeCarli said, “Their pitcher was good. She kept us off-balance. We some opportunities to add to our lead but we couldn’t get the big hit.”
Greencastle scored its run in the fourth inning. Kaidyn Zimmerman was hit by a pitch to lead off, and moved to third on an error. She came home on a sacrifice fly by Bailey Leckron.
Greencastle dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the District 3 Class 5A rankings, while the Bulldogs are No. 3 in Class 4A.