COLUMBUS - The Colum bus High School softball team took down Bellville High School in tournament play Feb. 15 at Lady Cardinals Field by mercy rule in three innings by a final score of 10-0.
Columbus came up with big hits in each inning and put on a great display of defense and pitching as well, which made it hard for Bellville to battle back from throughout the game.
“Any time we put Mia Post out there, she’s gonna lock down the other team,” said Columbus head softball coach Alfred Rosa. “It makes us really comfortable at the plate. We know that we can score one or two runs and that’s gonna be enough. When we do that, it seems like we hit in bunches and that’s what we did today.”
Columbus senior pitcher Mia Post tossed a stellar outing in the circle and also added some big hits at the plate.
“I think it really comes down to picking your teammates up,” Post said. "It definitely helps a pitcher when you know that you have confidence in your team that they’re gonna get hits, they’re gonna get on base, so it’s not as much pressure. You go into the game confident in your team mates and I feel like that plays a big role on how I pitch.”
Bellville is still a solid team with plenty of season to go and just ran into a really good Columbus team who played an outstanding game on both sides of the ball.
“They came out with their bats ready," said Bellville head softball coach Courtney Phillips. “Our defense was a little shaky. We’re gonna have to toughen that up. Communication on the field is what we’re gonna have to work on to make things get better.”
Columbus scored their first run in their first at bat on a base hit to centerfield from senior catcher Ellie Brown after a walk and a Bellville error on a ground ball. The Lady Cardinals went on to score seven more runs in the same inning on two grounders, a triple from senior Abigail Wiggs, a liner to second, a double from Post, and another error from Columbus to take an 8-0 lead going into the second inning. Their final two runs came in their next bat with a sacrifice bunt from Wiggs and an infield hit to the shortstop from senior Molly Garcia. A fly out and two strikeouts in the top of the third inning from Bellville won the game for Columbus by mercy rule at 10-0.
