Vermillion Blaze finish third at Omaha tournament

Vermillion Blaze finish third at Omaha tournament The Blaze struggled getting their bats going in the first two games of pool play at the Omaha ASA Spring Fling Tournament.  In the first game they lost a heartbreaker to Omaha Lightning 1-0. Lizzy Bye allowed three hits and struck out 11 batters.  On the offensive side, Courtney Johnson, Mariah Dodson and Bye all hit singles but were unable to put a run on the books. Game two of pool play found the Blaze up against a talented Ralston Rage. Morgan Hueser was the losing pitcher for the Blaze striking out one. Sami Girard and Beth Szymonski each hit a single for the Blaze. In the third game on Saturday the Blaze came out of their hitting slump beating the Bellevue Shockers Black 6-0.  Six of the nine Blaze players got hits.  Girard scored twice, Audrey Truhe , Lexi Regnerus, Johnson and Hueser each scored once. Emily McClelland was on the mound striking out three Bellevue batters and earning the win.  During Sunday's single elimination play in the first game the Blaze took on rival Sioux Falls Flash.  Girard hit a double and did an awesome job behind the plate.  Tory McCreary had a hot bat hitting a single and a double at three at bats.  Other Blaze to get on base were Bye and Truhe.  Bye was the winning pitcher giving up three hits and striking out six. In the next game the Blaze had a chance to avenge their loss to the Ralston Rage. The Blaze played a solid five innings and gave it all they had, but fell a little short losing 7-8. The Blaze came out strong scoring two runs in the first inning with Dodson, McCreary and Szymonski each hitting a single.  The Rage only scored two earned runs in the whole game.  The Blaze had a rough fourth inning with some costly errors allowing the Rage to score five, but came back with avenges scoring four themselves.  Girard, Szymonski, Truhe and Christopherson each hit singles and Regnerus unleashed her bat and hit a triple. The score was 7-7 going into the fifth when the Rage scored. The Blaze had their chance, Bye hit a triple but they were unable to bring her in. Coach Chris Girard and Shelly Bye were very proud of the girls.  For a first tournament we were happy to see improvement as the tournament went on and the girls working together.