Softball: Stoudt pitches shutout to lead St. Bede past Newman

STERLING – The Newman softball team threatened to take an early lead Wednesday evening against St. Bede, loading the bases in the bottom of the first inning with two outs.

But it never got a runner in, as Bruins’ sophomore pitcher Reagan Stoudt notched the third out of the inning via strikeout, and followed with six more scoreless innings to wrap up a 5-0 St. Bede win in Sterling.

“That was a pretty well-played high school softball game between two ranked teams. We did beat them early in the year at their place, so we knew they’d come here hungry,” Newman coach JD Waldschmidt said. “I always get really upset when we lose, but when we lose to a quality team and a well-coached team, I can take it a little bit better.”

The Bruins took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, scoring an unearned run after Ryann Stoudt hit a two-out double to center field and Bella Pinter grounded a ball to short, bringing Stoudt home and reaching second herself after a low throw flew past first.

[ Newman vs. St. Bede softball photos ]

In the bottom of the first, Jess Johns grounded a ball to second, beating the throw for a single, then Carlin Brady drew a walk, and Sophia Ely was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs.

But Stoudt struck out the next batter to maintain the St. Bede lead.

“We left girls on base inning after inning. I believe we left eight on base,” coach Waldschmidt said. “And I believe three of their five runs were scored with two outs, so they got the big hits, we did not. That was the difference.”

In the top of the second, the Bruins got another runner around the bases, stretching their lead to 2-0.

Maddy Dalton led off the inning with a single between short and third, then Kaitlyn Kobilsek reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second during a Grace Maschmann at-bat, and moved over to third on Maschmann sacrifice bunt. Leadoff hitter Ella Hermes brought in Kobilsek next with a single past third.

“Putting up runs early was key. It lets our pitcher settle in a little bit. We had one run in each of the first two innings,” St. Bede coach Shawn Sons said. “We hit much better up and down the lineup this time, facing the same pitcher, and I think that was the key to the game.”

Madison Duhon ripped a double to lead off the bottom of the third, but got tagged out at third on an Ady Waldschmidt fielder’s choice before St. Bede’s defense turned a double play on a Johns ground ball to end the inning.

The Bruin offense went back to work in the top of the fourth, scoring another run for a 3-0 lead. Dalton hit a single between third and short to start the rally, then Kobilsek grounded out to move Dalton to second, and Maschmann singled to right to bring Dalton home.

St. Bede then tacked on two insurance runs in the top of seventh. Hermes got the rally going, drawing a leadoff walk, then stole second before Madelyn Torrance flew out. Ryann Stoudt followed with a single between second and short to plate Hermes, and Pinter ripped a triple into right field to score Stoudt for a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, Reagan Stoudt worked a 1-2-3 inning to seal the win. She went the distance, allowing four hits and two walks, while striking out six. She worked 1-2-3 innings in the second, third, fifth and seventh.

“Reagan was really good. She was hitting her spots today, bringing the gas,” Sons said. “Especially with the pitches Coach Pyszka was calling, I thought between his pitch calls and her hitting her spots, it really kept them off balance. A couple times she had a walk and a hit batsman, but you’re going to have that when you’re trying to hit fine spots. But I was really, really with how she performed in the circle today. Not only that, but I thought our defense played much better this game than we had them at our place.”

Ryann Stoudt and Pinter each went 3 for 4 with one RBI, with Pinter hitting a triple.

Ady Waldschmidt, Johns and Duhon each went 1 for 3 for Newman, while Brady went 1 for 2.

Johns took the loss, scattering 10 hits, allowing four earned runs, walking two and striking out four over seven innings.

“It’s just execution down the stretch. I believe they were error free, and we had maybe two. We played pretty clean,” coach Waldschmidt said. “We’ve got girls stepping up. Addison Foster, batting in the nine-hole as the double leadoff, continues to make contact and continues to be a vacuum over there at second base. She started the year not playing, not playing at all on varsity, and she’s locked into a spot. It’s her spot to lose going forward. She made contact every time at bat, and played flawlessly over here, and she’s done that for the last two weeks, so I tip my cap to her for putting in the work.”