The Bellwood-Antis girls softball team traveled up the mountain to West Branch on Tuesday for a makeup game originially scheduled for Monday, April 26.
Although the hits were even, with each team getting four, six errors by the Lady Blue Devils led to a 7-3 win for West Branch. The B-A girls stayed close in the early portion of the contest, scoring a run in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1. A season-long problem surfaced again however, as the Lady Warriors scored five times in the bottom of the fourth to jump back out to a big lead. The Bellwood-Antis girls have given up a big inning in just about every game and it has hurt them dearly. For the rest of the games, the Lady Blue Devils have been very competitive.
In the fourth, Heather Detwiler walked, stole second base and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Kasey Narehood’s single scored Detwiler with the tying run.
A B-A error, a couple of stolen bases and a wild pitch set up winning pitcher Olivia Beveridge’s three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth that gave West Branch a five-run cushion.
Beveridge struck out nine and walked two to pick up the win.
Heather Detwiler struck oit two and walked four for the Lady Blue Devils.
Then down 6-1, the Lady Blue devils closed to 6-3 with a pair of scores in the sixth inning. Becka Forney, the only girl on either team with more than one hit, stroked her second single of the day and moved up to second on a wild pitch. Detwlier walked againand Charlie Burns slammed a double to score both baserunners.
“The girls played pretty well against West Branch,” said Bellwood-Antis coach Alex Sitman. “ We faced a pretty good pitcher. Beveridge is nearly as fast as Hilary McNelis and we hit her pretty well, we just couldn’t score more runs. Our girls work hard and never quit. Sometimes you measure yourself with small things. We played seven inning and were in the game all the way. There is no lack of effort on this team, no matter what the score or record. Heather Detwiler pitched a good game for us. She is working hard to be the best oitcher she can be.
The Lady Blue Devils (1-12) play Glendale at home today, weather permitting. The first pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.
West Branch 7 Bellwood-Antis 3
BELLWOOD-ANTIS 000 102 0 3-4-6.
WEST BRANCH 100 501 X 7-4-1.
Multiple Hits: BA – Forney 2.
2B: BA- Burns 1, WB- Sample 1.
HR: WB- Beveridge 1.
RBI: BA- Burns 2, Narehood 1, WB- Beveridge 3, Sample 1.
