{"id":777,"date":"2023-04-14T06:54:46","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T10:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=777"},"modified":"2023-04-14T06:54:49","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T10:54:49","slug":"blekes-walk-off-beats-concordia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/14\/blekes-walk-off-beats-concordia\/","title":{"rendered":"Bleke’s walk-off beats Concordia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DANE FUELLING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DECATUR – Thursday\u2019s home game against Concordia came at a strange time for the Bellmont Braves. Despite blowout victories against Bluffton and Garrett, the mood surrounding the team was somewhat off after a disappointing loss to Adams Central Monday. Already trying to make up for a loss that was simply tough to swallow against Jay County in the opener, there was no doubt that the Bellmont Braves had not yet found their stride in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emily Bleke, the sparkplug of the team, found it in the bottom of the seventh Thursday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Concordia could not get Emily Bleke out Thursday night as the sophomore went for three hits. (Photo by Kris Everett) <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bleke\u2019s home run, a bomb towards the scoreboard in left center, was a classic walk-off and it came with two outs with some thoughts creeping into the team\u2019s head about what happened the last time a game went to extra innings at home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that is behind them now and the team will instead enter Friday\u2019s long road trip at Mississinewa with anticipation and energy as they try to continue to exact revenge against the Indians from a stunning sectional loss two years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat a way to end a ballgame,\u201d said head coach Mindy Buuck with a smile afterwards. \u201cIt\u2019s like all the movies you watch as a kid. Bottom of the 7th, two outs, and the crowd goes wild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Head coach Mindy Buuck feels her team may have turned a corner with the win Thursday. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While last year\u2019s team did not find its stride until it endured a long losing streak, Buuck thinks this may just be the moment where the Braves realize who they are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping this game is the catalyst we need to start finding our groove.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The home team got another fine start from senior Piper Baker, who allowed four hits and one run in four innings of work. She faced just two over the minimum after walking none and picking off a runner at first to end the opening inning after allowing her only run.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Piper Baker produced another quality start and helped the Braves with the bat Thursday night. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bellmont answered Concordia\u2019s run in the first inning with a manufactured run of their own in the bottom half. After Emily Bleke led off with a hit up the middle, Sami Christen bunted her over and Baker knocked her in with two outs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bleke finished with three hits to lead the team, while Baker added a triple to her RBI single. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Kate Scheumann pitched in relief, moving over from first base and mowing down the Cadets. The freshman struck out five and allowed just two hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mary Kate Scheumann was excellent in relief, picking up the victory for the Braves. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Samantha Hoffman took the loss for the Cadets, throwing the whole game and giving up eight hits.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Excellent defense, like the tag applied here by second baseman Sami Christen, and no strikeouts were the key to Bellmont’s victory. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bellmont did not strike out in the game. They hope to continue that Friday night in Gas City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She may be remembered for the bomb she hit in the bottom of the seventh, but Emily Bleke did her hardest work behind the plate, holding Concordia to one run. (Photo by Kris Everett)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DANE FUELLING WZBD.com DECATUR – Thursday\u2019s home game against Concordia came at a strange time for the Bellmont<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[13,15,26],"class_list":["post-777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-bellmont","tag-featured","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/8I7A0038-scaled.jpeg?fit=2560%2C1942&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}