In Chelsea Holcomb’s first season as head coach for the Bridgeport High School softball team, the Indians seemingly showed improvement with each passing game.

 

Though the Indians ended the 2022 season with a 12-13 record, they were playing their best at the end of the year. They even picked up a couple of postseason victories.

 

Holcomb is hopeful that momentum continues in year number two of her tenure. But she also doesn’t want her players to be complacent based on how well they were playing late last season.

 

“We had a great run at the end of the year when we finally got grooving,” Holcomb said. “They finally understood what I wanted from them, what they wanted from me. When we came back in this year, because we lack experience, mentally and skill wise, they thought, ‘Oh, we’re going to be pretty good. We’re going to pick up right where we left off.’ And that’s not the case, we have to push through that.”

 

The Indians return seven players who played in at least 16 games in 2022.

 

Four of those players hit at least .300 in 2022 in Kyleigh Anderson (.350), Rachel Mason (.322), Maddie Garner (.306) and Chloe Pethel (.300).

 

Also, Kileigh Pugh wasn’t far off from .300 finishing at .286 and amongst the returnees she had the most extra base hits with eight doubles and RBIs with 18. She also scored 22 runs.

 

Mason scored 26 runs, hit five doubles and drove in 15 runs, while also emerging as one of the better fielding third basemen in the area.

Garner had four doubles, scored 13 runs and drove in 13.

 

Pethel was also the Tribe’s top pitcher as she posted a 7-8 record and struck out 103 in 129 innings of work.

 

The Indians are off to a 1-1 start, winning their season opener against Fairmont Senior, 7-1, and falling in their home opener to Robert C. Byrd, 6-0.

 

It’s a small sample size but its two games Holcomb can use to show her team how they perform if they take care of all the little things vs. a game in which they don’t.

 

Pethel struck out 11 and allowed just one hit over seven innings in the win against the Polar Bears. She was one of three BHS players to score two runs, joining Mason and Anderson, and she had a pair of hits. Hamrick went 3-for-4 in the win with a double, scored one run and stole a base.

 

Pethel was tagged with the loss against RCB, which received strong games at the plate from Gina Alvaro, who hit a two-run homer and an RBI double and Avery Childers, who also hit a two-run homer.

 

The BHS offense had five hits off RCB winning pitcher Tori Anderson with Pethel leading the way with two.

 

“We have to do better in the box as far as being consistent at the plate,” Holcomb said. “It’s early, it’s only Game 2. Baserunning and mental errors killed us. We have to be smarter in that aspect. The mental aspect of the game, we struggle with and it shows a lot on the basepaths.”

 

The Indians have a game scheduled for every day next week. They will be at home against Preston on Monday, at Grafton Tuesday, at University Wednesday, at home against North Marion on Thursday, at home against University on Friday and at home against Spring Mills on Saturday.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo of the Indians huddling before the start of the game, middle photo of Mason and bottom photo of Pethel by Joe LaRocca.