Grace Hamling of Seward gets the out at second on a double play against Bennington Aug. 25.
Seward's Lindsay Flesner fouls off a pitch against Bennington Aug. 25.
After opening the week with a loss at Crete, the Seward softball team (4-4) came back to finish third at its home invitational Aug. 25.
The Jays came up short at Crete 6-3 Aug. 23. Coach Rich Eber said a couple mistakes led to Cardinal runs, and SHS was unable to match them. In one instance, he said, an outfielder missed a diving catch and that allowed the Crete runner to circle the bases.
“It was just a little bit of bad luck,” Eber said.
Haley Blecha’s two-run home run in the fourth highlighted the Bluejay offense.
The Jays opened their home tournament with a 7-5 win over Bennington. The Badgers led 5-4 going into the bottom of the sixth, and the Jays scored three in the inning to take a 7-5 lead.
“It was nice to see us play a complete game,” Eber said, adding that the defense committed no errors.
Lindsay Flesner and Sydney Parra were both 3-3 to lead the offense. Hannah Benedict drove in two runs, as well.
Parra got the win in the circle, striking out three over six innings.
The win moved the Jays into a match-up against Fairbury. The Jeffs were able to hold off the Jays 5-3, thanks in part to four SHS errors, Eber said.
Claire Karel and Alayna Goldsmith had two hits each for Seward. Benedict got the start and struck out three in four innings.
The loss dropped the Jays to the third-place game where they defeated Grand Island Central Catholic 6-2. Grace Hamling tripled with the bases loaded and drove in three for the Jays. Benedict was 2-3.
“We had people contribute up and down the lineup,” Eber said. “If we clean up our defense, we could go on a run.”
The Jays lost Monday's game to York 9-8 and beat Fillmore-Central/Exeter-Milligan 11-6 Aug. 28.
The team was scheduled to host Norris Thursday, Aug. 30, at 6:30 p.m.
