BONDURANT — For the second consecutive night the Perry softball team had to deal with a Class 3A top 10 squad on the road, and for the second consecutive game the Jayettes gave their hosts all they wanted before falling just short.
On Tuesday the Jayettes (1-9) had a seventh-inning rally come up just short in a 3-2 loss to No. 3 Greene County, and on Wednesday excellent defense kept the guests alive until a walk-off home run in the ninth delivered a win for No. 10 Bondurant-Farrar.
“Our defense played well — our only error came on the first play of the game,” Perry head coach Tina Kenney said. “We had solid defense and pitching and our offense has had much more spark the past two nights.”
The Lady Jays scored an unearned run in the first, but Perry answered with an unearned run of their own in the top of the second. Rachel Kinney reached on a miscue, moved up on an Alyssa Kruger single and sped home on a RBI-ground out from Brooke Huntington.
B-F plated a go-ahead run in the third, but Perry responded in the fifth when Huntington reached on an error. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Maddie West and a ground out from Johanna Diw. Emma Olejniczak’s clean single drove her battery-mate home with the tying run.
First baseman Katelyn Whelchel helped keep Perry in the game with a pair of impressive plays in the field in the final innings. With a runner on first in the seventh, Whelchel snared a line drive, then stepped on the bag for a double play.
In the eighth she snagged a wide throw and tagged the runner as she ran by to record a key out. Unfortunately for the Jayettes, Emily Wilson ended the suspense with a walk-off solo home run for the hosts in the bottom of the ninth.
Olejniczak was stingy in the ring. She allowed three runs (two earned) on just six hits and two walks while striking out 10. The sophomore helped her own cause by finishing 3-for-5 with a two singles, a double and a RBI at the plate.
Kruger was 2-for-3 with a single and a double while Diw, Kinney and Maddy Jans had one single apiece.
Perry hosts Ballard tonight before a two-day, four-game stretch at the Woodward-Granger Classic. Perry plays Madrid on Field 2 at 10 a.m. and Council Bluffs Abraham Lincoln at 4 p.m. on Field 1 in Friday action at the classic, with Field 1 games Saturday against Council Bluffs Lewis Central at 12 p.m. and against W-G at 4 p.m.
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3A No. 10 BONDURANT-FARRAR 3, PERRY 2 (9)
at Bondurant, June 10
Team R H E
PRY 010 010 000 — 2 8 1
B-F 101 000 001 — 3 6 2
PRY: Olejnczak and Huntington. LP: Olejniczak. 2B — PRY: Olejncizak, Kruger.
