By RYAN WALKER
BERNE — Bluffton’s softball season ended in the hands of South Adams for the second season in a row.
The Tigers (10-14) dropped 9-3 this time in the sectional semifinal to the fourth-ranked Starfires (25-4) as polled by the SCAI. South Adams will host the sectional championship against Bishop Luers on Saturday morning.
The run total was cut in half from the first meeting back in April at Bluffton, and the Tigers certainly had more of an answer too. But it was the star-studded Starfire lineup that packs a punch with power with dazzling speed and too much to overcome.
Shea Alberson alone stole three bases and Macy Pries had one, all while the team pounded 14 hits together. A few hits came from bunt-for hits, some slap hits and one over the fence by seven-hole hitting Kenzie Neuenschwander.
All of that came together in the bottom of the first inning, where Alberson reached on an infield single, and Bekah Patterson putrunners on second and third with a double. The catcher, Sofia Schwartz, stepped up to the plate and drilled a double to drive both of them. She later scored on a single by Avery Brown.
“One through nine they can put the ball in play,” Bluffton head coach Tyler Sonnigsen said after the game. “Schwartz behind the plate, every time she came up, it was we can’t give her anything good to hit and if we walk her, we walk her.”
But the Tigers did respond in the third inning that brought them back down by one run. Tressa Renner reached base via an error, and the next batter, Tyrah Shaw, smoked a double to drive her home. Marly Drayer followed that up with a sacrifice fly to get within reach 3-2.
It was a fight the Tigers might not have had a month ago, but after watching South Adams play Tuesday night in the sectional against Adams Central, Sonnigsen and his team thought they could get it done.
“My initial thought was, we were gonna come in here and shock the world,” Sonnigsen said. “We were going to beat them … “‘Why can’t we go in the sectional and surprise everybody?’”
But like Bluffton did, South Adams responded well.
Over the next three innings, the Starfires got the bulk of their runs, scoring two, one and three in the third through fifth frames of the game.
A few of the runs were aided by a bases-loaded walk and an error, but Neuenschwander’s leadoff solo home run and putting the ball in play cleaned up the rest.
“We just fell short tonight,” Sonnigsen said. “I mean, errors creep in here and there. They make a few plays. Just sneaky, very good baserunning, but they played well and I don’t think we played terrible.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise was who was on the mound for South Adams. Addie Baker threw the previous game against Bluffton, tossing four scoreless innings and struck out seven. She’s posted a 17-1 record with a 1.17 ERA. Instead, they went with Gracie Bixler, who allowed two runs over the two innings in relief in the win over Bluffton previously.
“We totally expected Addie Baker to pitch and that kind of threw us off but to be honest, but I think Bixler threw really well,” Sonnigsen said.
“And I think she was throwing as hard if not harder than Baker was tonight.”
Baker did come into the seventh and slam the door shut, retiring the Tigers’ side in order.
Bixler allowed the three runs in six innings of work.
Bluffton’s 10-14 record under first-year head coach Sonnigsen was the most wins the program has had since the 2017 season.
This group will graduate six seniors — Madison Smith, Claire Craighead, Cayah King, Shaw, Kayla Kiefer and Owen Laisure. Sonnigsen says there will be holes to fill with the team, especially within leadership, but he’s excited for the returning cast and some of the eighth grade ranks as well.
ryan@news-banner.com
