Jay Jondro walked off the field for the first time as the Huron High School softball coach after his River Rats had just dropped a 19-0, three-inning, mercy-ruled decision to Pinckney.

But that shellacking didn't hurt as much as the 3-2 loss to the Pirates in the opener of the nonconference doubleheader.

In game one, Huron's Kristy Arbour and Pinckney's Rachel Oberly dueled for seven innings. Huron rallied for two runs to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth inning before surrendering the game-winning run in the top of the seventh.

It was the proverbial one-that-got-away and one needed for a team that went 4-28 last year and is breaking in a new coach.

"We've got a long way to climb, but we're gaining," Jondro said.

The one-run, game-one victory was the more important one for the Pirates, too. After all, they won't face - and defeat - many Division 1 college prospects like they did Friday at Huron against Miami (Ohio)-bound Arbour.

"It was a good ball game and that's the kind of game you'll see most of the time," said Pinckney assistant Tim Cogswell, who helped fill in for coach Alan Spranger, who Cogswell said was taking a "vacation day."

Arbour allowed eight hits and struck out 15 while taking the loss. Oberly surrendered five hits and struck out nine.

More Coverage on MLive.com: This Story & Photo Gallery | Game 1 Boxscore | Game 2 Boxscore

Pinckney poked first against Arbour in the third inning. Kacie Sanderson lofted a fly ball to right field that the gusty winds got ahold off and allowed Sanderson to reach second base.

Kate Schneider followed with a single and then Taylor Merryman drove them both home with a double down the left field line.

In the bottom of the sixth, Huron finally got to Oberly. Mia Kanzawa singled and Arbour singled to send Kanzawa to third. Kanzawa stole home for the River Rats' first run and Arbour (4-for-4 on the day) eventually scored on Anna Lisa Lawrence's sacrifice bunt.

"I was happy that we came back," Jondro said. "I don't think they did that a whole lot last year. I don't really know.

But that positive moment did not last long as Pinckney immediately pounced in its final at-bat. Schneider singled for her second hit of the game, stole second and took third base on a wild pitch. Jenn Lucas later singled her home for the game-winner.

The Pirates did not slow as they came to the plate in the first inning of game two. Eleven players came to bat and eight of them scored. By the time the Pirates were finished, Elizabeth Ball had three hits and five RBIs and Jade DeForest had two hits and four RBIs.

While Jondro wasn't pleased with game two - "the two girls pitching the second game have pitched a total of nine weeks" - or the seventh inning of game one, he was pleased with his team's tenacity in the fourth inning of the opener.

Pinckney threatened to bust the game open when it loaded the bases with one out. But Arbour silenced the Pirates' bats with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning.

"We held them to no runs," Jondro pointed out. "There are positive signs. That's all you can keep looking for."

BASEBALL

Huron 6, Pinckney 2: Jose Tavarez, Andy Samoray and Jalen Bouma split time on the mound for the River Rats (2-4), limiting Pinckney to six hits. "Our pitchers finally threw strikes, which has been a big problem for us," coach Terry Bigham said. "They really gave us a chance to win. We've been playing defense, but we couldn't throw strikes and that was the difference." Tavarez got the win after allowing one run on three hits through three innings, Samoray had the same line through two innings and Bouma pitched two innings of perfect relief for the save. Patrick Jobst responded to being moved to the leadoff position by going 3-for-4 with two runs. Nick Bloglin drove in two runs with a pair of doubles. (Boxscore)

Contact Dave Holzman at daveholz@comcast.net.