RUSHVILLE – Franklin County sophomore Addyson Bischoff drove in four runs on two swings of the bat Monday as the Lady Wildcats cruised to an 11-1 win over the Batesville Lady Bulldogs in the opening round of the Rushville Sectional.

The pitching combination of starter Jillian Harris (W) and Bella Lee kept the BHS bats relatively quiet after the Dogs had tied the game at one in the bottom of the first on a triple by Caitlyn Fox and subsequent safety squeeze by Calli Fletcher.

Both sides had baserunners in the second but failed to dent the plate. In the third, a base hit – one of three on the night – for junior Bailey Kaiser scored courtesy runner Olivia Bennett to put FC up for good. The Cats were far from done, however. After Bulldog coach Gene Cooney pulled starter Libby Stephens (L) for Kylee McCray, Bischoff greeted the new hurler with a screamer back through the box to score two and make it 4-1. Junior Brooke Stang followed with a liner to center that dropped in and plated runner Kailey Edmundson.

Harris struck out two Dogs and coaxed a soft pop-up to the second baseman in what turned out to be her final inning of work. It remained a 4-run ball game at the midpoint as FC stranded a pair of runners in the top of the fourth.

Lee entered the contest for coach Matt Perleberg and tossed a scoreless fourth, stranding a runner at second. FC then went down very quietly in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the stanza, Lee fanned the side in 1,2,3 fashion to keep the beat going.

The final two at-bats by FC left Batesville in the dust.

In the sixth, a Madison Perleberg single scored senior Kensee Ferman. Bischoff then smacked a pitch into the left-center gap for a 2-run double. It was 8-1.

BHS was set down in order again in the bottom of six, Ferman showing alertness at the hot corner with two straight putouts – one on a bunt attempt and the next on a hot grounder.

The Bulldogs helped FC in the seventh with a couple errant plays and a hit batsman. With the bases jammed, pinch-hitter Hope Gardner dropped a single to the opposite field for an RBI. Kaiser picked up another RBI and Tori Wuestefeld drove in the final run on a routine groundball.

Stang, Ferman and senior Kendal Cain added 2-hit nights in the 16-hit barrage. Annie Hoff had a stolen base. Sophomore Cora Roth led BHS with a pair of hits while senior Natasha Fowler added a hit and a steal.

FC improved to 15-11 and earned a semifinal date with the host Rushville Lions today at 5:30 p.m. BHS finished the year at 2-17.

The regular season ended with consecutive losses for FC against EIAC co-champs. Greensburg won 5-1 Thursday and East Central won 10-3 Friday.

The highlight against the Pirates was a Stang dinger, one of her two hits on the evening to go with a steal. Lee took the loss (4 ER, 3.1 IP, 4 Ks) and Cain tossed 3.2 scoreless, punching out 3. Greensburg freshman sensation Harper Adams struck out 13 in her complete game win.

EC and FC were scoreless after two. The Trojans then plated eight runs over their next two at-bats. They had 14 hits to FC’s 10. Stang hit her 8th homer and added a pair of doubles while Hoff had two hits and an RBI. Ferman swiped a base. Lee, Harris and Isabella Stenger all pitched. Payge Callahan drove in four for EC.