Bonny Eagle 5

Cheverus 0

All year the Bonny Eagle softball team has been struggling to string together hits. On Monday afternoon against Cheverus, the Scots overcame that problem on their way to a 5-0 win over the Stags. Maddie Kluna took care of the rest with a two-hit, 12 strikeout performance and the Bonny Eagle defense was sharp as well.

“We put together some hits,” said Bonny Eagle coach Jan Corliss. “That’s what’s been lacking all year. We got three hits in that one inning. That’s where we had been really struggling. We’d get one, maybe a leadoff, then one later, but we have not put together three hits in one inning this year. So that was nice.”

For a while it looked like nobody was ever going to score. Both teams were pitching well and making the plays in the field when they needed to.

“(Kluna) is without a doubt one of the better pitchers I’ve ever coached,” Corliss said. “She is the pitcher I knew she could become and I hope she gets all the accolades this year that she can. She’s earned it. She has put the time in. She can locate well and she has a variety of pitches. She’s got some great heat and an undetectable change.”

With Kluna dealing and Cheverus pitcher Theresa Hendrix matching her goose egg for goose egg, the game appeared headed for extra innings.

But the Scots changed that in the fifth.

With one out in the inning, Connie Grovo ripped the first pitch she saw down the right field line for a double. Grovo was just the second Bonny Eagle base runner to reach second base. The next batter, Rachel Porter, singled up the middle to drive in Grovo and the Scots took a 1-0 lead.

But they weren’t done. Maegen Johnson singled to keep the rally alive. Stefanie Stockwell grounded to short, but moved the runners over on a fielder’s choice. That set up Jordan VanRosendael who singled to drive in Porter and Johnson and Bonny Eagle led 3-0.

“In the fifth inning, Connie busted it open with her double,” Kluna said. “(We got) three hits in that inning, so that was good for our team to finally get our bats going. It seemed for a while we weren’t going to hit. We’d get one, but today we strung some together. I felt confident after that one inning that I’d be fine as far as our runs. Usually when we get one hit, we’ll keep adding.”

The Scots then added one run in their half of the sixth when Porter singled to drive in Kelly Bradbury. In the seventh, the Scots got one more when Porter again singled to score VanRosendael.

The way Kluna pitched, the Scots only needed one of those runs. After surrendering a hit to the first batter she faced, Kluna sat down the next 11 batters in a row.

In the fourth, an error led to a Cheverus threat. Alana Ardito reached on a dropped ball at first. Alexis Garrison followed that up with a single, but the Scots got out of trouble with a pop up to first base. It was just another instance of Bonny Eagle’s defense slamming the door on the Stags.

“I have no worries every game,” Kluna said of her defense. “I’m not worried about anything. The defense is very strong. They have never disappointed me. I’ve never really been worried about it. I’m proud of them. They are really young, they are probably the youngest I’ve seen defensively, but they play smart.”

The Scots moved back over to the positive side of .500 with the win. It was a win the Scots needed after a tough early season schedule had left them at 2-2 on the year. The Scots were scheduled to play McAuley on Tuesday.