Perry Central softball falls 6-5 to Wood Memorial in tight game

Perry Central came up one run short again, and the 6-5 loss to Wood Memorial at Perry Central Jr.-Sr. High School in Leopold showed how little separates the Commodores from another strong spring record.

The game fit a stretch that has left Perry Central looking dangerous and vulnerable at the same time. The Commodores entered with a 13-7 record, were 4-0 in Patoka Lake Conference play, and had won 13-3 over Crawford County the day before. But they also had dropped three of their previous four games, and those losses came by an average of just 1.67 runs. In other words, Perry Central has not been getting blown out. It has been living on the edge of a few pitches, a few at-bats and a few defensive plays.

That is what made the Wood Memorial result matter. A one-run loss does not change the fact that Perry Central has been competitive throughout the late season, but it does sharpen the question of whether the Commodores can finish those tight games. The recent sequence included a 5-3 loss to North Harrison on May 8, a 2-0 loss to Heritage Hills on May 7 and a 14-4 win over Paoli on May 4. The pattern is clear: Perry Central has shown it can score and it can hang around, but it has also been forced to chase results in narrow margins.

Wood Memorial improved to 9-8 with the win and has now won six of its last eight games, a run that helps explain why the Trojans were able to leave Leopold with a one-run victory. Audrey Schultz led the way with a 2-for-4 night that included two stolen bases and two runs, while Macy Bigham finished 1-for-2 with two runs and a double.

For Perry Central, the loss lands in the middle of a late-season schedule that still includes Mitchell, West Washington, North Posey, South Spencer, Northeast Dubois and Evansville Mater Dei. With postseason play approaching, the Commodores are still in position to turn these close losses into wins. In Perry County, where school sports are closely followed and the county’s roots stretch back to 1814 and Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the difference between a good season and a dangerous one often comes down to nights like this.