Unbeaten Notre Dame plates 14 runs to down Jackson in softball action

~ The Bulldogs scored seven runs in the first inning and beat Jackson 14-2

KELSO, Mo. -- Jackson led 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first inning.

The lead didn't last long.

Notre Dame pounded seven runs in the first inning alone and romped to a 14-2 victory in softball action Thursday night.

After the Indians (5-8) jumped out to a 1-0 lead behind back-to-back well-struck triples by Demesha Huddleston and Katie Garner, Notre Dame (13-0) sent 11 batters to the plate in the first to take a commanding 7-1 lead.

Notre Dame pitcher Katie Bond delivers a pitch to a Jackson batter Thursday.

"That's huge," Bulldogs coach Jeff Graviett said. "We had a tough game last time. It was close and competitive with not a lot of offense. They jumped on us today. But anytime you can put up seven runs, that's a lot, especially with Katie Bond on the mound and the way she's been pitching."

The offensive outburst started with one out and nobody on for Notre Dame.

Summer Burger reached on an error, Savanna Ayers singled and Jessica Menz smashed a two-run triple to give Notre Dame the lead.

After three straight walks and an error that led to the Bulldogs having the bases loaded and a 3-1 lead, Notre Dame junior Ashton Elfrink roped a two-run double.

Sadie Schaefer continued the inning with a sacrifice fly and Brianne Sanders doubled to plate Elfrink and give the Bulldogs the 7-1 lead.

Notre Dame baserunner Sadie Schaefer makes it to first base after the throw gets past Jackson's Ivie Ervin during the second inning Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010 at Kelso, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

"It's frustrating," Jackson coach Amanda Forester said. "They have some good hitters and they put it in play. We have to make plays, and a few times we didn't."

Errors proved costly for the Indians, while the Bulldogs' defensive was solid.

Menz made nice plays at third multiple times, and Courtney Reinagel had two nice catches in right field to suffocate the Indians.

Katie Bond, the Bulldogs' ace this season, was more than happy to have the defense behind her.

"I love my defense," Bond said. "I'm always confident they'll back me up and make the play and try their hardest."

Added Graviett: "We got to make to plays if we want to play at the level we want to play at. We made those plays tonight. We have some athletes in the field that can do that, and it's nice to see those types of plays."

Bond settled in after a shaky first inning.

The junior hurler retired the Indians in order in the second and third innings.

She finished with three hits, two runs allowed and two strikeouts over four innings.

"I had to block the sun in that first inning," Bond said. "Then I got in a groove and it was a lot easier."

The Bulldogs ace improved to 12-0 this season.

"You can almost bank on one run an outing," Graviett said of Bond. "You can't ask a high school pitcher to do much more with the mound pushed back. She's been battling and her ERA sits around 1.00 so far. If she keeps doing that, we'll have a lot of success."

Notre Dame jumped on Indians starter Mollie Crader again in the third.

Bond led off with a double to right-center field then consecutive errors led to three Bulldogs runs and a 10-1 lead.

The Indians tried to rally in the fourth when Huddleston was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and Garner singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Lauren Anderson drove in Huddleston with an RBI fielder's choice and the Indians again had runners on the corners.

After Bond coaxed a fly out, Indians senior Chelsea Dye roped one into right field, but Reinagel made an impressive over-the-shoulder grab to end the threat.

"Our hitters stayed in there," Forester said. "We hit the ball but we didn't get the big hits."

Jackson 100 10 -- 2 3 5

Notre Dame 703 4x -- 14 10 0

WP -- Katie Bond (12-0). LP -- Mollie Crader. 3B -- Demesha Huddleston (J), Katie Garner (J), Jessica Menz (ND). 2B -- Ashton Elfrink (ND), Bond (ND), Brianne Sanders (ND). Multiple hits: Jackson, Garner 2-2; Notre Dame, Menz 2-2, Bond 2-2, Elfrink 2-3. Records -- Jackson 5-8, Notre Dame 13-0.