TENNERTON – For their season opener, the Buckhannon-Upshur softball Lady Bucs ran into one of the top pitchers in the state in Lincoln’s Delaney Haller.
Haller was the Big 10 Conference Pitcher of the Year last season and was captain of the Class AA All-State Second Team in 2022. She continued her success from last year into this season as she pitched a one-hit shutout in a 10-0 five-inning victory against the Lady Bucs Monday evening.
“Offensively, we were stymied by Miss Haller,” B-U head coach Levi Bender said. “Thirteen strikeouts isn’t great, but it was our first outing seeing live pitching, and we went up against a senior who consistently has 200-plus strikeout seasons.”
Buckhannon-Upshur’s lone hit came from their lead-off batter in the bottom of the first when Jansen Kimble singled to center field. The only other Lady Buc base runner was Kailey Hart, who reached on an error in the bottom of the first.
Bender credited his pitching staff for a strong first outing of the season.
“It all starts with pitching. Jansen Kimble and Sophie Lantz only gave up a combined three earned runs,” Bender noted. “We missed on a couple of spots which allowed for big hits, but those were compounded by defensive miscues… Alyssa Abel did a really nice job behind the dish working with both of her pitchers.”
Lincoln grabbed the lead in the top of the first on a two-run triple by Cadence Lambert. A three-run double from Alexis Williams in the top of the second treated Lincoln to a 5-0 advantage, and a two-run single by Angelina Wright upped Lincoln’s lead to 7-0 in the top of the third inning.
A pair of ground-out RBIs in the top of the fourth extended the Cougars’ lead to 9-0, and they wrapped up the scoring in the top of the fifth with a bases-loaded walk to Lambert.
Lincoln had eight hits in the win. Haller finished the contest with 13 strikeouts.
Kimble suffered the loss going four innings and allowing nine runs, of which just one was earned on seven hits while striking out two. Lantz pitched the fifth inning for the Lady Bucs and gave up one earned run on one hit.
“Defensively, we couldn’t put together enough to make it a close game,” Bender said. “We could pinpoint our age, experience, and lack of enough outside practices to get any flyball work as areas to improve or overcome, rather than allowing them to be excuses. We made some plays though throughout the infield, especially Reagan Mason at third and Taylor Spratt at first.”
“Good at-bats overall, especially the second time through the order,” the coach added. “Jansen broke up the no-hitter in the first at-bat. Quinn Burnside and Reagan Mason, in the 5th inning, lined out in their last at-bats.”
Tuesday’s game at Preston has been postponed, Bender posted early Tuesday morning.
The boxscore:
Lincoln 232 21 – 10
Buckhannon-Upshur 000 00 – 0
E – Lincoln 1; Buckhannon-Upshur 3. DP – None. LoB – Lincoln 7; Buckhannon-Upshur 2. 2B – Robey, Williams. 3B – Lambert. Sac. – Brown.
Hitting
Lincoln – Emalee Brown rf, 3 1 1 0; Delaney Haller p, 3 2 1 0; Alexis Williams ss, 3 2 1 3; Emily Robey cf, 3 1 1 0; Cadence Lambert c, 3 0 1 4; Karriss Drain 2b, 4 0 1 1; Haleigh Hyre ph, 0 1 0 0; Aliyah Elder 3b, 2 1 1 0; Kaitlyn Shingleton lf, 2 1 0 0; Angelina Wright eh, 3 1 1 2. Totals 26 10 8 10.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Jansen Kimble p-2b, 2 0 1 0; Katarah Linger ss, 3 0 0 0; Taylor Spratt ph, 1 0 0 0; Kailey Hart lf, 2 0 0 0; Alyssa Abel c, 2 0 0 0; Quinn Burnside eh, 2 0 0 0; Reagan Mason 3b, 2 0 0 0; Shaylee Hebb 2b-rf, 2 0 0 0; Reese Curry cf, 1 0 0 0; Emmalee Cottrell 0 0 0 0; Sophie Lantz p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 17 0 1 0.
Pitching
Lincoln – Haller (W): 5 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, 13 strikeouts.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Kimble (L, 0-1); 4 innings, 7 hits, 9 runs, 1 earned run, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts; Lantz: 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 earned run, 2 walks, 0 strikeouts, 1 hit batsman (Robey), 1 wild pitch.
