The Bellwood-Antis Lady Blue Devils were unable to pull out a victory for their lone senior Charlie Burns on Tuesday, but they did demonstrate the heart and never say die attitude Burns has instilled on them as the team captain all season long.
The Blue Devils and Williamsburg Lady Pirates combined to amass 17 hits, 23 walks, five hit by pitches, 12 errors and 32 runs in a 19-13 Williamsburg win during which the Lady Blue Devils trailed 14-0.
Williamsburg built their 14-run lead while batting in the first two innings. However, it wasn\’t their bats that were driving in runs.
The Lady Pirates managed only four hits during their scoring spree but took advantage of 10 walks and a hit by pitch to jump out in front of Bellwood-Antis.
The Lady Blue Devils began to chip away in the bottom of the second inning when Danielle Riley singled, moved to second when Jenn Bilka walked and scored when Karlie Rogers reached on an error. With one out, another Williamsburg error left the bases loaded before Pam Weyant grounded into a fielder\’s choice that brought home Bilka. Weyant and Rogers then pulled off a double steal that made the score 14-3 after two innings.
Heather Detwiler came on in relief of starting pitcher Courtney Hamer and provided a shutdown inning for the Lady Blue Devils. In the bottom of the inning, Bellwood-Antis cut Williamsburg\’s lead to six.
Detwiler led off with a single, Burns walked, and Riley reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Williamsburg stopped the rally momentarily by getting Detwiler out at home on a fielder\’s choice hit by Bilka, but when they tried to do the same on a grounder by Rogers, Burns beat the throw home. Hamer walked to bring in another run, and Jessica Parson brought in a run with an infield single. Weyant brought in a run with a single of her own, but Hamer was out at home trying to score as well. Christine Pfahler capped the scoring in the bottom of the third with a single that scored Parson to make the score 14-8.
An error allowed Williamsburg to build their lead back up in the fourth inning. After a leadoff single, Lindsey Speacht flew out. Valerie Wyland hit a soft grounder to second that got away from Bilka and set up Kristi Robley\’s two-run double. A lineout a pitch later would have ended the inning, but Williamsburg took advantage of their extra out to score two more runs.
Despite putting two runners on base in the bottom of the fourth, Bellwood-Antis failed to score. Williamsburg could not add any runs to their total in the top of the fifth, and the Lady Blue Devils came to bat in the bottom of the inning trailing 18-8 and facing the possibility of losing via the ten-run rule.
But Bellwood-Antis refused to accept a mercy-rule loss in Charlie Burns\’ final game. The Lady Blue Devils used back-to-back singles and a walk to Pfahler to load the bases with no outs. Detwiler was hit by a pitch to force in a run, and Burns walked to bring home another as Bellwood-Antis\’ two-run rally sent the game into the sixth inning.
Williamsburg picked up a run in the top of the sixth, but left the bases loaded when they needed only one more run to secure the victory.
“I really think the team didn\’t want it to end for Charlie,” head coach Alex Sitman said when asked what pushed the Lady Blue Devils to stay in the game.
Bellwood-Antis failed to score in the bottom of the inning, but Detwiler sat Williamsburg down in order in the top of the seventh to force the bottom of the seven and one final at bat for Burns.
Weyant grounded out to begin the seventh, but Pfahler, Detwiler and Burns all drew walks to load the bases. Riley was hit by a pitch to drive in Pfahler, and Detwiler and Burns scored when Bilka reached on an error. With two outs, Hamer walked to load the bases, but Williamsburg first baseman Molly Saltsgiver made a nice play on a Parson grounder to end the game.
After the game, Sitman reflected on Burns\’ time with Bellwood-Antis.
“She is the best catcher in the area, because of what she has to deal with. She is a four year letter winner and a team leader who is going to be very tough to replace. She\’s a great player and even a greater kid,” Sitman said.
Williamsburg 19 Bellwood-Antis 13
WILLIAMSBURG – Speacht, 3b, 4-3-0; Wyland, c, 5-3-2; Robley, lf, 4-2-3; Rhodes, rf, 4-0-0; Kurtz, rf, 1-0-0; Fether, 2b, 2-2-0; Fay, 2b, 0-1-0; Yeager, ss, 2-2-1; Me. Saltsgiver, cf, 4-2-2; Mo. Saltsgiver, 1b, 3-2-0;
Delp, p, 4-2-1. TOTALS 33-19-9.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Weyant, cf, 5-1-2; Pfahler, ss-p, 2-1-1; Detwiler, 1b-ss-p, 2-1-1; Burns, c, 2-2-0; Myers, 3b, 0-0-0; Riley, 3b, 4-2-2; Bilka, 2b, 4-2-0; Rogers, rf, 5-2-0; Hamer, p-1b, 3-0-0; Parson, lf, 4-2-2; Ray, ph, 1-0-0. TOTALS 32-13-8.
Williamsburg 860 401 0 19-9-6
Bellwood-Antis 035 020 3 13-8-6
2B: Robley 1.
RBI: Robley 4, Delp 2, Me. Saltsgiver 2, Yeager 2, Wyland 2, Speacht 2, Weyant 2, Burns 1, Pfahler 1, Detwiler 1, Riley 1, Rogers 1, Hamer 1, Parson 1.
SO: Delp 2, Detwiler 2, Hamer 1.
BB: Delp 11, Hamer 7, Pfahler 3, Detwiler 2.
WP: Delp LP: Hamer
