-
Columbia outfielder Karis Jernigan celebrates after reaching first base safely against Riverside on Thursday night. (BRENT KUYKENDALL/Lake City Reporter)
One night after asking more from her lineup, Columbia delivered for head coach Cindy Dansby.
A 12-run second inning catapulted the Tigers to a quick easy win Thursday night. Ten players finished with at least a hit and eight had at least one RBI for Columbia, which cruised to a 15-0 run-rule victory over Riverside on Senior Night.
Madelyn Jones led CHS offensively, going 2 for 2 with three RBIs and two runs scored that included the walk-off single in the third inning to trigger the run rule. Zoryana Hughes finished with two RBIs on a 1-for-2 night with two runs scored against RHS pitcher Michaela Lwanga.
The Tigers (10-3) left only two runners on base after leaving 10 stranded in Wednesday’s win over Gainesville. The Generals (1-9) dropped their third straight.
“The adjustment was quicker (tonight),” Dansby said. “You saw a few pop ups in the first inning and that can happen when you’re facing a pitcher with different velocity. So I felt like they made big adjustments and the next time around they put the bats on the ball. They started finding the gaps and it straightened them up a little bit. It makes a difference when you get behind it and drive through it instead of reaching out and getting under it.”
Seniors Alexis Blair, Emily Eadie, Karis Jernigan and Hughes were honored prior to the game. Blair got her usual start at third base, while Hughes started at shortstop instead of her usual spot at second base. Eadie started at second instead and Jernigan got the nod in left field.
Hughes and Eadie doubled Columbia’s senior class when they opted to play this season after sitting out last year, and it’s provided some critical depth to the roster. It’s paid off as the Tigers are off to their best start since 2020 when they were 9-3 prior to covid-19 canceling the season.
“There’s been a reconnection of them coming back to the game that they love and enjoying their senior year,” Dansby said. “They came in with this group of younger, for the most part, freshmen and sophomores. I feel like overall they’ve been meshing really well. I just think the senior group coming back and reconnecting and being here has just added to our depth and overall just made it stronger.”
While the lineup did a number on Lwanga, McKenna O’Sullivan had an easy night in the circle for Columbia. The sophomore pitcher faced only 10 batters, allowing just two hits while striking out three batters.
“I felt like she did a good job,” Dansby said. “She had really good control of her screwballs and her drops were actually working pretty good. Her curve was a little whatever, but it was working and makes the other ones more effective. They got a couple of little bloop hits, but once she settled in and started really getting more consistent, it showed.”
Columbia went up 1-0 in the first inning when Luisa Taylor walked and then scored on an error. The game was blown open in the second inning where 16 batters came to the plate.
Jernigan, Jones and Eadie hit three straight singles to make it 3-0 before Lwanga fielded a bunt from Sakiya Merriex that she threw over the head of first baseman Enid McDina, allowing Eadie to score and Merriex to advance all the way to third for a 4-0 lead. Taylor followed with an RBI double and O’Sullivan slapped an RBI single to make it 6-0 before Blair reached base on a single.
Kimber Long then fouled off a few pitches before hitting an RBI single to extend the advantage to 7-0.
“Kimber battled for a long time and got that hit out of it,” Dansby said. “It was a long inning.”
Hughes came up for the second time in the inning and smacked a 2-RBI double. Jernigan then reached base on an error and Hughes scored before Jones hit another RBI single to extended the lead to 11-0. The inning didn’t end until Jones and Merriex, who singled, both scored on another error.
Hughes walked in the third and scored when Jernigan reached on another error before Jones ended the game early with her third RBI single.
“It was a good win, a good night for the seniors,” Dansby said. “We put them in some positions that maybe they haven’t played in a while but I thought they did a good job.”
UP NEXT
Columbia hosts Middleburg (7-5) on Friday at 6 p.m. for a District 2-5A matchup.