Blair girls' softball loses to Clarksburg in home opener

65 mph fastball

Photo: Senior Clarksburg pitcher Genevieve Gleason no-hit the Blazers in a 7-0 win.

Senior Clarksburg pitcher Genevieve Gleason no-hit the Blazers in a 7-0 win. Photo courtesy of Sudhish Swain.

On Thursday, March 23, the Blair Blazers (0-2) fell to the Clarksburg Coyotes (2-0) in their home opener, losing 0-7 in the no-hitter by senior Clarksburg pitcher Genevieve Gleason. 

The Blazers started strong on defense with a catch by junior shortstop Nikki Tjiputra. The Coyotes were held scoreless in the top of the first, despite an error on the Blair defense. The Blazers went down in order in their half of the inning.

The Coyotes scored five runs in the top of the second inning before Tjiputra managed to get the third out for Blair. The Blazer offense tried valiantly to get a hit on the board but were unfortunately met with another round of speeding fastballs from Gleason. 

The Cougars managed to get another run in the next inning, bringing the score up to 6-0 before the bottom of the third. Blair's only base runner came in the bottom of the fourth inning when Tjiputra got a walk to first base, breaking the Cougars’ perfect game. 

The game wound up with Tjiputra at the plate with two outs in the bottom of the 7th. After she struck out, the Blazers shook hands with the Cougars team and debriefed on the far end of the field. 

The Blazers hope to recuperate from this loss at home versus Wootton High School on Saturday, March 25.