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Indians struggle against Trojans

Sentinel photo by MIKE GOSS
Juniata’s Olivia Laub slides under Upper Dauphin’s catcher Kelsey Henninger to score one of Juniata’s three runs.

MIFFLINTOWN–After inclement weather postponed all games on Monday, the Juniata Indians returned to the field on Tuesday to take on Tri-Valley League rival, Upper Dauphin.

The Trojans’ bats got hot and they cruised to a 20-3 win over the Indians, who fell behind early and were not able to make up ground.

“I told them during the game that we don’t give in and we didn’t,” Juniata coach Erin Cressman explained. “We’re really proud of the way they played and the score doesn’t reflect how hard we played today and if we keep working hard, it will.”

After the first inning, Upper Dauphin took a slim 1-0 lead, as the Trojans pushed across a run on an error. The Indians immediately threatened with runners on first and third with one out, but Trojans’ starting pitcher Fayth Anderson got two strikeouts to end the inning.

The top of the second proved to be the downfall for Juniata as things got out of hand quickly. Maddin Grow launched an 0-1 pitch over the right-center field fence for a three-run home run, giving the Trojans a 4-0 lead. When the dust settled, Upper Dauphin sent 15 batters to the plate, en route to a 13-run inning.

Juniata starting pitcher Alexea Frontz was pouring in the strikes and the Trojans were able to put the ball in play. The Indians’ defense was less than stellar and of those 13 runs, only four were earned.

“We knew coming into this year that there would be some growing pains, but these girls are here to compete and they do not give in,” Cressman said. “That’s all we can ask of them. They’re doing exactly what we need them to do.”

The Indians kept their heads up and continued to battle for the rest of the game. Frontz bounced back to to shut out Upper Dauphin for the next two innings and an RBI single by Presley Goodwin in the third got Juniata on the board.

Juniata has been hit hard by the pandemic and have multiple players in quarantine, meaning that other players have been asked to step into roles that are new to them. Despite being a young team, Cressman doesn’t use that, or the pandemic, as an excuse for some of the miscues that happened in the field.

“We have a couple of players that are out, but we’re gonna get them back soon, so we’re excited for that,” Cressman said. “It’s hard, but all teams are dealing with this, so we gotta make it work, play for each other and work hard every game and they’ve been doing that.”

The Trojans added six runs in the top of the sixth to extend their lead to 20-1. In the bottom of the inning, Juniata was able to go out on their own terms, as they scored two runs. Frontz crossed home on a wild pitch by Trojans’ reliever Abby Koons and Mackenzie Lyter added a sacrifice fly to score another run.

While the result is not what the team wanted, Cressman and the Indians are just thankful for the chance to have a season and use this year to shape the framework for seasons to come.

“It’s been great. It’s been a lot of fun,” Cressman said about getting to play. “We’re excited for the second half of the year to bring things together.”

Upper Dauphin 20, Juniata 3

UD 1(13)0 06X X–20-16-0

J 001 02X X–3-4-5

WP: Fayth Anderson. LP: Alexea Frontz. SO: Anderson 7 (UD); Frontz 3 (J). BB: Anderson 3, Abby Koons 2 (UD); Frontz 6 (J). HR: Maddin Grow 2 (UD). 3B: Koons (UD). 2B: Koons 2, Emily Savidor, Kelsey Henninger (UD). MH: Grow 5-5, Koons 4-5, Henninger 2-3, Savidor 2-5, Ava Gibson 2-5 (UD). RBI: Grow 7, Henninger 3, Koons 2, Savidor 2, Gibson, Haileigh Bunsett (UD); Mackenzie Lyter, Presley Goodwin (J).

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