STERLING – The Bureau Valley softball team grabbed a one-run lead in the first inning then added three insurance runs between the fifth and seventh innings to seal a 4-1 win over Newman on Wednesday in a Three Rivers Conference East game.

On a windy day where gusts reached more than 20 miles per hour, both starting pitchers had strong outings.

In the top of the first, Bureau Valley leadoff hitter Lesleigh Maynard singled on the infield, stole second and scored on a Tyra Sayler double, giving BV a 1-0 lead.

Both teams were held scoreless for the next three innings.

In the bottom of the third, Newman got runners on second and third with two outs, but Bureau Valley pitcher Madison Smith struck out Ady Waldschmidt.

That turned out to be a pivotal stretch.

“[Allowing zero runs in the third] was very important, so they didn’t get ahead,” Smith said. “And so we could come back and score some runs.”

Smith and Waldschmidt went back-and-forth, pitching three scoreless innings to keep the game 1-0 heading into the fifth.

In the top of the fifth, Smith gave the Storm a 3-0 lead when she singled to right field, scoring Maynard and Addison Hicks.

Waldschmidt threw a strikeout and induced two groundouts to keep the deficit at three runs, and Newman’s offense finally got going.

Madison Duhon snuck singled, Waldschmidt grounded out to move Duhon to third and Jess Johns smacked a single to score Duhon.

[ Photos from Newman vs. Bureau Valley softball ]

Down 3-1 with a runner on base and one out, the Comets looked poised for a rally. Carlin Brady doubled to right field, but a throw to home plate beat Johns and a flyout ended the inning.

In the top of the seventh, the Storm added an insurance run as Maynard scored on an error.

“Bureau Valley wanted it more than us. I hate to say it, but they wanted it more than us,” Ady Waldschmidt said. “We beat them Monday, and I think that we settled more easily than they did. We were satisfied, and they weren’t, and it showed.”

In the bottom of the seventh, Newman grounded out twice and Smith got her final strikeout to end the game.

“This is probably the windiest we’ve had it for a while, so we kept it simple. We were just going inside and outside, and we got a lot of ground balls,” Bureau Valley coach Greg Sayler said. “Our defense, I thought, played well. I don’t think we had any errors. That play at home where they kind of bobbled it down in the outfield, and we got the player at home plate, that was big too, because that shut the door on them.”

Smith got the complete game win. She notched 10 strikeouts while allowing one run, six hits and one walk.

Maynard went 3 for 4 and Smith went 2 for 3 with two RBIs to lead the Storm.

Waldschmidt took the loss, allowing four runs (one earned), eight hits and two walks, while striking out eight.

“We’re a very young team, and we need to learn that we always need to come to play, not relax because we beat them once,” Ady Waldschmidt said. “We will learn that through the year, and it’s going to show later on. We’ll keep improving.”

Duhon went 2 for 3 and Johns was 1 for 3 with an RBI for Newman.

“We ran ourselves out of innings. We left girls on base, I would say we struck out looking seven times, which, I mean, their pitcher threw pretty well, but to strike out seven times in a game is too much for us with the hitters we have,” Newman coach JD Waldschmidt said. “But looking, that’s not acceptable.

“Down 3-0, we had a leadoff hit and we stole second on our own knowing that run means nothing, and were thrown out. Ran ourselves out of that inning. Earlier in the game, we had a base hit to right, had a girl we were bringing from first to third, she decided she didn’t think she could make it so she stopped running and got tagged out at second. So those are inexcusable errors.

“We’re all going to make errors, we’re all going to make mistakes, but you’ve got to trust your coaches, and you’ve really gotta put the team first. Bureau Valley, on the other hand, had zero errors in the game. Three unearned runs is not acceptable.”