Season preview
At the helm of the Pirate Ship this year is head coach Tony Rumer. He is entering his fourth season leading the Lady Pirates. In his third year as an assistant coach is Daryl Willis and Adam Burris is back for his second season.
The girls are being led this year by two seniors who bring much needed experience to the team. Both have been varsity starters and earned Pirate varsity letters since joining the team as freshmen. They were members of the 2013 sectional championship team.
Sami Fruchey is the starting pitcher and Taylor Monday starts at first base. In past seasons Fruchey has been selected to the NWC second team and was voted the Pirate MVP. As a pitcher she in the Lady Pirate record book. She holds the record for career strikeouts with 264 from 2013-2015 and tied for second in single season wins during 2015 with 13. She will be furthering her softball career this fall at Malone University.
Taylor Monday is a talented softball player who has earned her position at first base and batting at the top of the lineup. She has a spot in the Pirate record book. She is tied for third with 8 doubles in 2015.
There is one more starter and letter winner returning from last year’s varsity team. Junior Abbie Parkins has played third base for the Pirates since her freshman year. She also has a place in the record book. As a freshman she tied for third with 4 triples in 2014.
Junior Jazmynn Wilson and Sophomore Aimee Ritter round out the team members from last year. These two girls played on the both the JV and varsity teams in 2015.
There is a well-represented freshman class with 8 girls joining the 2016 varsity team. New team members are Mara Minning, Alivia Koenig, Ameri Siferd, Katie Daws, Averey Rumer, Bailey Edwards, Katie Prater and Kailey Mault.
In March the Lady Pirates played in two pre-season scrimmages with Kenton and North Baltimore.
Bluffton 15 McComb 0
Lady Pirate Pitcher Sami Fruchey dominated at the plate and in the circle at McComb.
The senior pitched a five-inning shut out while striking out 12 of the 18 Panther batters she faced. She also slammed two homeruns and a single, which led to her earning 8 RBI's.
Taylor Monday and Abbie Parkins also were strong at the plate. Taylor had a single, a triple and 2 RBI's while Abbie had 2 singles, 1 triple and 1 RBI.
The freshmen came on strong in their first varsity game. Averey Rumer hit 3 singles, Katie Prater had 2 singles and 2 RBI's, Alivia Koenig hit 2 Singles, Ameri Siferd had 1 single and 1 RBI and Mara Minning hit 1 single. The final score was 15-0.
Bluffton 10 Carey 3
Fruchey had a solid game at the plate and in the circle for the second night in a row. She struck out 6 to help beat The Carey Blue Devils 10 to 3. She hit a single and a homerun and earned 3 RBI's.
Taylor Monday had a double and 2 RBI's and Katie Prater had a single, double and 2 RBI's. Alivia Koenig had a single and 1 RBI and Aimee Ritter had a single and 2 RBI's. Averey Rumer, Jazmynn Wilson and Ameri Siferd each hit singles.
Arcadia 8 Bluffton 3
In a week plagued by weather related cancellations BHS suffered its first loss with a score of 3 to 8 at home. Sami Fruchey pitched a complete game with 6 strikeouts, 8 hits and only 2 earned runs.
Bluffton struggled on both offense and defense and costly errors led to Arcadia coming out on top. Sami also had 2 assists and hit 2 singles and 1 double which led to 1 run scored.
Taylor Monday had 9 putouts at first base. From 3rd base Abbie Parkins had productive day with 1 putout and 4 assists. She added 1 single, 1 double, 1 RBI and 2 runs scored. Second base player Jazmynn Wilson hit 1 single plus had 1 putout and 2 assists.
Aimee Ritter stepped in at center field and had 2 puts outs and a single with a RBI. Averey Rumer had 1 single and 2 putouts at the shortstop spot. Catcher Katie Prater had 7 putouts, 1 assist and 1 single. Freshman Katie Daws added her name to the scorebook with a single that earned her a RBI.
