Pello, Eberhart lead Jimtown past Elkhart
ELKHART — Brandy Eberhart was smiling.
Just two days after a tough 4-3 loss to Northridge — after leading 3-0 in the sixth inning — Eberhart's Jimtown softball team put together a gem, beating Elkhart 10-0, in a Northern Indiana Conference game on Saturday.
"This is the first time all year we've really played a complete game,'' Eberhart said. "We came ready to play ball today.''
Indeed.
Junior Skyler Pello led the way offensively for the Jimmies with three hits, including a homer, driving in three and scoring four times from the leadoff spot.
Meanwhile, classmate Kiyla Eberhart was strong on the mound, tossing a four-hitter and striking out 11 in the five inning game.
"You have to give their pitcher a ton of credit,'' Elkhart coach Matt Walker said. "She forced us to make some adjustments and obviously we didn't do a great job of it. She's just really good.''
Jimtown jumped on Elkhart in the first inning, taking a 3-0 lead before the Lions came to bat.
Pello started the inning with a walk before Hannah Zellers singled. When the ball got past the left fielder, Pello scored all the way from first and Zellers ended up at second.
After a fly out, Abbey Brown lined a homer just over the fence in left-center field to give the Jimmies a 3-0 lead.
"We want to get out and get a lead,'' Brandy Eberhart said. "We want to put the ball in play and put a lot of pressure on our opponent. Today, I thought we hit the ball as well as we have all season.''
Jimtown added to its lead in the second, putting together four straight hits to take a 6-0 lead.
Lilly Gaugler and Kiyla Eberhart started the inning with singles, with Gaugler coming home on a single by Pello. Walker then replaced starting pitcher Anna Knight with junior Laci Stimac.
Eberhart would score on a single by Zellers, with Pello adding the sixth run on a steal of third, with the throw rolling into left field for an error.
"When you're down 6-0, it takes a lot of strategy away,'' Walker admitted. "After that, you're just going to the plate and trying to get what you can.''
The Jimmies added to their lead in the fourth, with Kiyla Eberhart leading off with a single and Pello drilling a line driver homer to push the lead to eight. Alyson Hayes would drive in Brown later in the inning for the team's ninth run.
Pello made it 10-0 in the fifth, scoring on a single off the bat of Kendal McPhee.
Jimtown is now 7-2 on the year, but more importantly 4-0 in the Northern Indiana Conference. Elkhart falls to 3-6 and 0-3.
"There are times where I need to remind myself how young we are,'' Walker admitted. "We're playing several freshman and sophomores and they gaining experience against a really good schedule. We just have to try to get better every day.''
The Lions next opportunity to do that will be Monday at South Bend Washington. Meanwhile, Jimtown has a showdown Monday at No. 3 (Class 3A) South Bend Riley. Both games are NIC contests.
Zellers backed Pello with three hits, while Brown drove in two for Jimtown. Ava Walker had two hits for the Lions.
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JIMTOWN 10, ELKHART 0
Jimtown;330;31;—;10;15;0
Elkhart;000;00;—;0;4;2
Kiyla Eberhart (W); Anna Knight (L), Laci Stimac (2).
Jimtown: Hits: Pello 3, Hannah Zellers 3, Abbey Brown 2, Alyson Hayes 2, Eberhart 2. HR: Pello, Brown. RBI: Pello 3, Brown 2.
Elkhart: Hits: Ava Walker 2.
