ALBANY — The Juda-Albany softball team opened its season with a punishing 17-2 loss to Orangeville in a nonconference game March 25.

The Panthers scored a run in both the bottom of the first and the fourth. Orangeville scored once in the first, then put up five runs in the second, five in the third and six in the fifth.

“Obviously, we had too many errors and too many walks,” Juda-Albany coach Bill Davis said. “We will get that fixed.”

The Panthers opened the season with question marks on the mound for the first time in five seasons. Four different pitchers saw the hill for Juda-Albany, giving up eight hits and 12 walks combined. The Panthers defense committed eight errors.

“I’m confident our pitching will come around. It was great to get out and compete,” Davis said.

Tessa Janecke hit a 3-run home run for the Broncos.

“The good news is we are getting healthier and we know where we need to work on to improve. We need to find out who will be playing where and what we need to work on,” Davis said. “We’re looking forward to five games next week and starting multiple players to see who is the best fit and where.”

Baseball

Evansville 9, New Glarus 1

EVANSVILLE — The Glarner Knights opened the baseball season with a 9-1 loss March 26 to Evansville on a game moved from New Glarus.

The Blue Devils used five pitchers in the opener, while the Knights could only muster up a single hit. Evansville’s Matt Forster and Jake Rosga each had two RBIs.