Braves go to 3rd in NE8 with win at Huntington

The surging Bellmont Braves won their seventh game in a row and turned around an 0-3 start in the NE8 with four straight wins to tie Huntington North for third place in the final conference standings by beating the Vikes on the road, 5-4.

The Braves led the entire game, scoring in the top of the first with an Emma Mills double and an RBI single by Rachel Bleke, who continued to hold her average at .500 with a 2 for 4 night.

Piper Baker allowed just two hits the first two times through the order and her teammates gave her two more runs with which to work in the second inning. After Aaliyah Faurote walked and Kenzie Fuelling delivered another hit, Taylor Bauer and Emily Bleke drove in runs with RBI groundouts to make it 3-0.

It was not until the bottom of the sixth that the Vikings got to Baker. She got to two outs but the next two batters singled and Huntington North cut the lead to 3-2.

Bellmont answered back with RBI singles by Mills and Rachel Bleke in the top of the final inning.

Huntington North scored two more runs with two outs, but Baker secured the win by inducing a groundout to second baseman Sami Christen for the final out.

Photo by Dane Fuelling Bellmont’s leading hitter, Rachel Bleke, had two more hits Thursday as the Braves won their ninth in a row and beat Huntington North. Bleke has hit .625 during the streak and driven in 14 runs.