COLUMBUS, GA.—The Central College softball team was dealt a crushing blow before the season's first pitch was thrown Friday and endured a pair of opening-day losses in the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic.
           
After taking a brief early lead, Central tumbled in five innings against Alma College (Mich.) 10-2, then displayed some well-timed grit in roaring back from a 7-0 deficit against Randolph-Macon College (Va.) to grab a 9-7 lead before dropping a 12-9 decision.
           
But that was all after a long shadow was cast on the day in the bright Georgia sunshine. Pitcher Sydni Huisman (junior, Treynor), who carried a large chunk of Central's season hopes on her right arm, sustained a fluke injury while warming up before the opener, which is likely to sideline her indefinitely.
           
"I've been doing this for a long time and I've never experienced anything like it," veteran coach George Wares said. "It was so freakish the way it happened. It's hard to lose a probable all-region pitcher anytime but to have it happen 15 minutes before game time. And then, to top it off, you're playing your toughest tournament you play in all year. There's not a book to handle that."
           
But Wares more immediate thoughts were about the well-being of his junior hurler.
           
"My biggest concern is Sydni and how she feels and I think the same is true with our players," he said. "You're trying to get ready for the game but you're also thinking, wow, you've seen this person really work hard to put herself in position to have a great year and then it's taken away."
           
The mishap prompted a last-minute rewrite of the Dutch lineup. Morgan Schaben (junior, Portsmouth, Harlan HS), who is dealing with some injury issues of her own and was ticketed for a lighter load, was thrust into a starting role. She was the first of three Central hurlers against Alma and took the loss, getting tagged for five earned runs on eight hits with three walks and a strikeout in 3.0 innings.
           
Freshman shortstop Haley Bach (Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) led off the game with a walk in her first collegiate plate appearance, advanced on an error and scored on a force-out. Bach reached on a fielder's choice in the third inning and eventually scored a second run in a rally started by a double by third baseman Carson Fisk (junior, Searsboro, Lynnville-Sully HS).
           
But Alma (4-5) struck for six runs in the second inning and the game was ended in the fifth by the mercy rule. Central was outhit 13-3 and committed three errors.
           
Schaben returned to start against Randolph-Macon and absorbed a seven-run second inning.         But Central responded in a big way with five runs in its half of the second inning and four more in the third. Bach, who had three hits in the game, had a two-run single in the second and singled and scored in the third. First baseman Megan Stuhr (sophomore, Sigourney) and catcher Madison Farrington (junior, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS) each had RBI doubles.
           
"I give our players credit," Wares said. "Down 7-0 after the first game we'd had, and I look up in the fifth inning and we're ahead 9-7.
           
But Randolph-Macon turned to its freshman ace, Gracie Ellis, as the game's fifth pitcher. She had thrown earlier in the day and was scheduled to rest but silenced the Dutch bats the rest of the way, yielding two hits over five scoreless innings while striking out 10.
           
After being given the lead, Schaben tossed a couple of scoreless innings. She then yielded a run in the fifth inning before giving way to Emma Neu (sophomore, Rochelle Park, N.J., Hackensack HS), who suffered the loss as Randolph-Macon (6-1) scored three times in the sixth and added a seventh-inning tally off freshman Chloe Dougherty (Alleman, North Polk HS).
           
"Morgan kind of ran out of gas," Wares said. "The other two were maybe not quite ready for this but now they're getting thrown in and they've got to become ready for this."
           
Central didn't help its cause defensively, committing six errors.
           
"We felt like we were going to have some concerns defensively early in the year and those were magnified today," Wares said.
           
But there were encouraging signs from the young club as well. The Dutch stole six bases on the day while defensively, Farrington threw out three baserunners.
           
"Our speed is what we thought it was," Wares said. "And Madison was really good behind the plate. People aren't going to have a lot of success against her."
           
The offense showed flashes as well.
           
"Haley Bach had a good day at the plate, Emma Johnson (junior, Davenport, Assumption HS) had a good day at the plate and Megan Stuhr and Franie Burnett (sophomore, Ankeny, Centennial HS) finally got it going," Wares said. "That was encouraging.
           
Central has a first-ever meeting with Manhattanville College (N.Y.) at 2:30 p.m. (ET) Saturday before taking on Salisbury University (Md.) at 4:30 p.m. (ET). Central's only three previous meetings with Salisbury were in the 2003 NCAA Division III Championships at Salem, Virigina, with the Dutch prevailing in the title game, 5-3.
           
"My only concern right now, besides how Sydni is feeling, is trying to win these next games and, in the midst of that, just find ways to get better," Wares said.
           
Audio webcasts of Saturday's action with KRLS radio sports director Trevor Castle can be accessed through kniakrls.com. The direct link for Friday and Sunday's games is rdo.to/KRLS3 with Saturday's games at rdo.to/KRLS. Saturday's games will also be broadcast on KRLS-FM (92.1). A video stream will be available at https://watch.yourgamecam.com/. Viewers should choose "Softball," "Facility," "South Commons" and the field number under "Channel." Saturday's games are at the complex main stadium field, which is listed as No. 7 for the video stream.