Scots beat Jay 7-0 again

Twenty-four hours didn't make much of a difference.

In Anderson Thursday, the host Highland Scots posted three first-inning runs. They went on to record double-digit hits while limiting the Jay County High School softball team to just four in a 7-0 victory.

The teams met again Friday at JCHS, and the Scots scored three times in the first inning. They racked up 11 hits and limited the Patriots to four in another 7-0 win.

"Were struggling right now," said JCHS coach Doug Arbuckle, whose team is now 5-5 and finished 2-4 in the Olympic Athletic Conference. "We're just very inconsistent ... with our fielding and our hitting. We've got to search for some answers and try to get things turned around here."

A pair of one-out infield hits got the Highland offense started Friday, and pitcher Lauren Williamson helped her own cause with a two-run double down the line in right field. The Scots tacked on a third run on an RBI single to left from Jessica Jones to take a 3-0 lead for the second consecutive night.

The score was still 3-0 when Jay County picked up its first hit, a double off the fence in left field from Danielle Wellman in the fourth inning. Pazia Speed followed with a walk, and a single from Tiffany Davis loaded the bases with one out.

However, Highland escaped the threat as catcher Jarah Ice picked Wellman off of third base. Williamson then struck out Kendra Younger to end the inning.

"This is at least five she's picked off third base," said Scots coach Doug Holder. "She picked two off, one in the eighth inning, against Noblesville when they were ranked No. 6 (in Class 4A) when we beat them 2-1. She does that all the time."

Highland tacked on a run in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh for the final margin.

The Patriots struggled at the plate against Williamson, who retired the first 10 batters she faced to carry a no-hitter into the fourth inning. She sat down eight more in a row between the fourth and seventh innings before Davis picked up her second hit with a one-out single in the seventh inning.

Williamson struck out seven batters and walked just one in her four-hit shutout, which came a night after Jessica Cates tossed a four-hit shutout against JCHS in Anderson.

"We do things in the cage and in practice, and then we come out here and it looks like it's totally different than what we're working on," said Arbuckle. "We swung at some high pitches tonight out of the zone. We were out on our front foot. We weren't disciplined at the plate."

Ice had a big night at the plate for the Scots (13-1, 4-0 OAC) as well, finishing 3-for-4 with a double and two runs. Taylor Courtney was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and two RBIs, and Jones went 2-for-3 with two RBIs.

Holder, whose team had runners on base in every inning, said he was impressed with the way the Patriot defense kept his team off the board in the second through fifth innings to give Jay County a chance to come back.

"These guys are a good team. They're scrappers," he said. "They didn't give up.

"That's a tribute to their pitcher and their players.

"The third baseman (Selena McKibben) made three fantastic plays in this game. That kept us off the base paths."[[In-content Ad]]