RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
Piper Baker pitched six innings of shutout ball and drove in three runs to lead Bellmont to a 6-3 NE8 home-field softball win over the Dekalb Barons Wednesday.
After Baker’s six-inning pitching stint, the Braves (11-8, 3-2 NE8) held a 6-0 lead and seemed to be cruising to an easy win.
But things turned tense in a hurry.
Bellmont coach Mindy Buuck sent freshman MaryKate Scheumann out to pitch the seventh, and the Barons (5-15-1, 1-4-1) roughed her up for three runs on four hits and a walk to shake Bellmont fans out of their complacency.
The big blow for the Barons was a two-out, two-run triple by relief pitcher Amara Anglin. She scored on Paige Storck’s single to make it 6-3. Leadoff hitter Kayla Leins followed with a double, and the visitors had runners on second and third and the tying run at the plate. But Scheumann recovered to strike out Dekalb center fielder Ashley Cox to end the game. It was Scheumann’s third strikeout of the inning.
Baker, assisted ably by nearly flawless defense, dominated Dekalb hitters, striking out four, walking one, and yielding just two hits. She threw only 62 pitches.
The Braves jumped off to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Baron starter Summer Haverstock. Leadoff hitter Emily Bleke was hit by a pitch, stole second with one out, and scored when Dekalb second baseman Katie Waters dropped Scheumann’s popup in shallow right field and then threw wildly to the plate. Scheumann advanced to second on the throw and later scored on Baker’s single up the middle.
Baker made it 3-0 in the third when she drove in Sami Christen with a sharp two-out single to left field. Christen had doubled over the center fielder’s head and advanced to third on Scheumann’s fly near the right field line.
It stayed 3-0 till the fifth, when the Braves doubled their lead. Bleke reached on a walk and sped all the way to third on Christen’s bunt single. Christen stole second on the next pitch, and when Scheumann’s routine fly to right was dropped, Bleke scored and Christen went to third. Baker drove in Christen with a ground out to first. Scheumann eventually scored on Makenzie Mankey’s one-out grounder.
Baker was eager to share credit with her defense for her six shutout innings. “I always know I can trust them behind me,” she said of her teammates, who had only one error. The best play of the night came from sophomore shortstop Aaliyah Faurote in the top of the third inning. With two out and Storck on third, Faurote deftly backhanded Waters’ hard grounder to her right, planted her feet, and threw a laser to first to nip Waters by an eyelash and preserve the shutout.
Coach Buuck likes how her team has been backing up the pitching staff. “Defense has been really stepping up the last several games, getting to where we need it to be as we move into the post-season,” she said. “They’re doing a good job.”
The Braves will host conference rival Huntington North Friday at 5:30.