Moshannon Valley’s Nikki Greslick had three hits and struck out seven in a complete game shutout over Bellwood-Antis. Staci Godin added five RBIs in the 15-0 victory.
The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Greslick, Sara Gallo and Nakita Ecklund hit consecutive singles. After a successful suicide squeeze and another single, the Damsels led 3-0.
Bellwood-Antis answered Moshannon Valley’s first big inning with back-to-back two-out singles by Leah Snyder, who was the only Lady Blue Devil with two hits for the second consecutive day, and Jenna Brown, but Greslick escaped the jam by getting Danielle Riley to ground out.
The Damsels continued to carry the momentum on offense, batting around in consecutive innings to post four runs in the fifth and add eight more in the sixth. The sixth marked the seventh time Bellwood-Antis has allowed at least seven runs in an inning this season.
“We played them tough for three innings, and Emily Derr was strong and hitting her locations,” Bellwood-Antis Manager Alex Sitman said. “To her credit, she’s a warrior out there, but when we don’t make the plays to get out of innings, it wears down our pitcher.”
Fatigue seemed to be an obvious factor in Derr’s loss of the strike zone in the fifth and sixth innings. Six of her eight walks came in those two innings, accompanied by a hit batsman.
Molly Rebar capped off the eight-run inning with a RBI triple, and Greslick worked around a two-out error to finish up the shutout.
Moshannon Valley’s offensive explosion in the fourth through sixth innings came after both teams left runners in scoring position early in the game.
Derr stranded a runner at third in the first by striking out Tiffany Beirlair, and she got Rebar to ground out with the bases loaded in the second inning.
Bellwood-Antis threatened to take the lead in the bottom of the second inning when Tamara Askey singled, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and got to third on Snyder’s first single of the game. Snyder stole second, but both runners were stranded when Greslick struck out consecutive batters.
The reeling Lady Blue Devils have now lost six in a row, but will finish a game against West Branch Tuesday, in which they are tied 3-3 in the fourth inning, then play their regularly scheduled game against the Lady Warriors.
Bellwood-Antis will then travel to Williamsburg Thursday to face a team they defeated 16-8 in Bellwood April 18.
“What we have to do is get back to basics,” Sitman said. “This is the time of the year when teams either cash it in or work hard to end the season, and I know my group will finish hard.”
Moshannon Valley 15 Bellwood-Antis 0
MOSHANNON VALLEY – Godin, 2b, 3-1-2; Rebar, cf, 5-1-2; Bacher, 3b, 4-1-1; Carr, ss, 3-2-0; Beirlair, dp, 3-1-0; Srock, lf, 4-1-1; Greslick, p, 3-0-3; Charney, cr, 0-3-0; Gallo, c, 1-3-1; Ecklund, rf, 3-2-2; Sankey, 1b, 0-0-0. TOTALS 29-15-12.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Weyant, cf, 3-0-0; Baldauf, ss, 3-0-1; Pfahler, 2b, 3-0-0; Askey, c, 3-0-1; Derr, p, 2-0-0; Snyder, rf, 3-0-2; Brown, 3b, 2-0-1; Riley, lf, 2-0-0; McCracken, dp, 2-0-0; Hamer, 1b, 2-0-0. TOTALS 23-0-5.
Moshannon Valley 000 348 15-12-1
Bellwood-Antis 000 000 0-5-2
3B: Rebar
2B: Greslick
RBI: Godin 5, Ecklund 3, Rebar 2, Greslick 2, Bacher, Srock, Gallo.
SO: Greslick 7, Derr 3.
BB: Derr 8.
WP: Greslick LP: Derr.
