Bernie bats, Kirkwood's arm, lifts Mules to 10-0 rout of Wildcats

BERNIE - In a game that matched up a pair of early prolific offenses on Tuesday at Bernie High School, it was the Mules, who lived up to its early season production in a 10-0 rout of visiting Bloomfield in varsity softball action.

“We’re taking some pretty good at-bats,” veteran Bernie coach Brad Botsch said following the win. “We’ve got some girls who have really worked on their swings.”

Bernie (4-1) pounded out eight hits and scored in four of its five at-bats, as the top of its order (junior Rylie Powell and sophomore Lexi Dillinger) was very productive.

Powell and Dillinger each had a pair of hits while Powell added an RBI and scored twice.

“We’re also able to manufacture some runs,” Botsch continued.

Powell had a triple and stole one of the 14 stolen bases that the Mules accumulated.

Dillinger had three of those thefts, as did sophomore Mackenzie Meese while Kealea Powell (two), Macie Botsch (two), Blair Pleimling, Elicia Freeman, and Kerri Botsch also nabbed a base.

Mule sophomore Mikalyn Kirkwood stymied the Wildcat bats by limiting them to no hits, which was unusual for this squad.

Bloomfield (2-3) entered the game averaging over 11 runs per game and was a 10-9 loss to a four-win Scott County Central team away from opening the season with a 3-1 mark.

“We have really been working on hitting the ball at different speeds,” 11th-year coach Charlotte Phillps said of her team’s productive spring so far. “We’re trying to make sure that we time that pitcher, watch the different pitching changes, and we’ve been doing a lot of hitting in practice.”

Bernie, which is averaging over 11 runs per game this spring, put a couple of runs across in the second inning after Bloomfield sophomore pitcher Kendall Phillips held the hosts to just one hit in the opening inning.

The Mules added five runs in the third inning after Rylie Powell’s lead-off triple. Botsch’s kids then ended the game with a run in the fourth and two more in the fifth.

“We try to get a feel of whether we are taking good at-bats,” Botsch said. “If we’re not, then we try to figure out another way to manufacture runs if we have to.”

Bernie senior Abbygail Powell added a hit, one run, and a pair of RBI while Kealea Powell (one hit, one run, one RBI), Freeman (one run, one walk), Meese (one hit, two runs), Botsch (two runs, one walk), and Kirkwood (one hit, three RBI, one walk) were also productive.

Kirkwood threw four innings in the start and walked just one Wildcat and struck out eight.

“She was a strike thrower today,” Botsch said of Kirkwood’s effort on the mound.

Kirkwood threw 34 strikes in her 56 pitches and was relieved in the fifth by Pleimling, who shut down the Bloomfield bats, as well.

“(Mikalyn and Blair) have both been pretty solid,” Botsch said of his two arms this season.

Phillips was the lone Wildcat to reach base, as she drew a walk.

She also was solid on the mound. Phillips threw 4 2/3 innings and allowed just four earned runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out five.

Bernie will host Dexter (0-2) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Bloomfield will visit Richland (Essex) on Thursday (time TBA).