The Bellwood-Antis and Williamsburg softball match-up Tuesday night was a tale of two parts. For the first four innings the Lady Pirates were in complete control, but as the sun came out, so did the Bellwood-Antis bats in the final three innings. Unfortunately for the Lady Blue Devils, they got started a little too late as Williamsburg held on to a 9-8 victory.
“We never quit, and we haven\’t all season. We just needed one more inning,” said head coach Alex Sitman after the game.
As Bellwood-Antis took the field for the first inning they were greeted by a steady rainfall that only got worse as six of the first seven Williamsburg batters reached base on walks. After Lady Blue Devil pitcher Heather Detwiler struck out Donna Delp for the second out, Shanda Kifer put Williamsburg up 5-0 with a RBI single that knocked in two runs before Detwiler got her second strike out of the inning for the third out.
The Lady Blue Devils got things started on offense when Rebecca Forney reached on an error and Detwiler brought her home with an RBI double. Detwiler took third on the throw home, and she scored on a Christina Pfhaler ground out.
Leading by three after the first inning, Williamsburg added single runs in the second and third. Kristy Robley singled, moved to second on a walk, got to third on an error, and scored on a Kelly Over sacrifice fly in the second inning, and in the third Delp walked and later scored on an error.
Williamsburg added two more runs in the fourth with two singles, a walk and a Bellwood-Antis error.
Meanwhile, the Bellwood-Antis bats fell silent. The Lady Blue Devils were unable to get a hit in the second, third or fourth innings, but after Williamsburg went scoreless in their half of the fifth, thanks to some nice plays by Forney, Bellwood-Antis got their offense started up in a big way.
Williamsburg helped start the rally with an error on a Pfhaler grounder and a throwing error that allowed her to get to second. Charlie Burns hit a sharp grounder to shortstop Cara Yeager who tried to tag Pfhaler going to third, but missed allowing Burns to reach on a fielder\’s choice. Casey Narehood drew a walk to load the bases, and after a line out Williamsburg helped out the Lady Blue Devils again. Pam Weyant hit a grounder back to pitcher Chelsey Rhodes who turned to first before throwing home.
The moment of hesitation caused an errant throw that got away from the catcher allowing all the runners to move up safely.
With the bases still loaded, pinch hitter Ashley Turner provided an RBI single that scored Burns. Rhodes got the second out of the inning with a strike out, but before she could escape the inning Forney cleared the bases with a RBI triple that brought in three runs and cut Williamsburg\’s lead to 9-7.
“Becky is the team leader, we rely on her almost to a fault sometimes. She really got the rally going with her triple. She\’s a four year letter winner and has constantly been a go-to player. It\’s hard to imagine her not being with the program next year,” said Sitman of his senior shortstop.
Riding the momentum, Detwiler retired Williamsburg in order in the top half of the sixth, and Bellwood-Antis used back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the inning by Burns and Narehood to cut the lead to one with an inning to go.
Once again Detwiler did not allow a base runner in the top half of the inning, and the Lady Blue Devils headed to the bottom of the seventh needing one run to complete their comeback.
After Rhodes got a strike out, Kirsten Myers drew a walk. Forney ripped a single up the middle to put the tying run on second. With a full count, Detwiler crushed a pitch into left field, but hit it right to Delp who made the catch. A ground out ended the game and Bellwood Antis\’ season on the next pitch.
“I\’m not sure we were ready to play at the beginning of this game. I didn\’t see the focus, but we didn\’t quit, and you also have to give Williamsburg credit,” said Sitman.
Tuesday night was senior night for Bellwood-Antis. Seniors Rebecca Forney, Casey Narehood, and Laura Cresswell were honored before the game.
“Casey was a real pleasant surprise this year; she came on strong in the second half, and she\’s a hard worker. Laura was the pep leader of this team. She has great character, and she\’s a nice outfielder,” said Sitman of Narehood and Cresswell.
The loss ended what was a rebuilding year for Bellwood-Antis softball.
“This was a great group of kids. They never quit, and I wouldn\’t trade one of them. They have worked hard from day one,” said Sitman about the character of his 2004 squad.
Williamsburg 9 Bellwood-Antis 8
WILLIAMSBURG – Prosseda, cf, 4-1-0; Robley, c, 4-1-2; Rhodes, p, 2-1-1; Yeager, ss, 3-1-0; Over, 1b, 2-1-0; Fether, 2b, 3-2-1; Speacht, 3b, 2-0-0; Delp, lf, 3-1-0; Kifer, rf, 4-0-1. TOTALS 27-9-5.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Forney, ss, 4-1-2; Detwiler, p, 4-1-1; Pfhaler, 1b, 5-1-0; Burns, c, 4-2-2; Narehood, 2b, 3-1-1; Kephart, 3b, 3-0-0; Weyant, lf, 4-1-0; Cresswell, rf, 3-0-0; Turner, ph, 1-1-1; Riley, cf, 2-0-0; Myers, cr-cf, 1-0-0. TOTALS 34-8-7.
Williamsburg 511 200 0 9-5-5.
Bellwood-Antis 200 051 0 8-7-4.
2B: Detwiler 1, Burns 1, Narehood 1.
3B: Forney 1.
RBI: Over 3, Kifer 2, Fether 1, Speacht 1, Forney 3, Detwiler 1, Narehood 1, Pfhaler 1, Turner 1.
SO: Rhodes 5, Detwiler 4.
BB: Detwiler 9, Rhodes 5.
WP: Rhodes LP: Detwiler.
