The Barneveld Golden Eagle softball team scored five runs in the first inning to help them cruise to an 8-3 victory over Belmont in the Six Rivers Conference on Friday in a game played at Barneveld. Hannah Esch was tough on the mound for the Eagles as she fanned eleven batters allowing seven hits and one walk. Two of those hits were home runs by Belmont’s Emily Reuter and Jaelyn Leitzinger.
In the bottom of the first, Belmont pitcher Carsyn Ramaker had some control problems walking three batters and allowing three singles. Up 3-0 with two outs and bases loaded, Reagan Knight singled to right field, scoring two runs and an early 5-0 lead.
In the third inning, Isabel Pohlman hit a home run over the center field fence scoring Lauren Reese, who earlier singled making the score 7-0.
Belmont made it 7-3 in the fourth as Leitzinger hit a two-run homer scoring Claire Runde who earlier walked, and one out later, Reuter hit a solo shot to center field. But Esch shut down the Braves the balance of the game. The Eagles got an insurance run in the sixth when Aleea Norton scored on a single from Reese.
“We took advantage of a couple of walks and an error in the first to jump out to a 5 run lead. Reagan Knight had a big two out bases loaded hit in that inning. Isabel Pohlman had a two-run homer in the third and our defense played well,” said Barneveld Head Coach Jason Gordon following the game.
Gordon feels his team is playing good ball heading into May. “The pitching, offense and defense has really shown what they are capable of in the last couple of games. We will need to maintain this progress through May. We will need to focus on what we can control, relax, have fun, and play the game,” he said. “Overall, this is a really good group of ladies. They focus on the tasks at hand, and they are very good at adaptation to different situations.”
Barneveld had ten hits in the game with Pohlman, Reese and Aleea Norton connecting on two each.