RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
It was 21 up, 21 down for South Adams pitcher Addie Baker in the first game of a doubleheader against Eastbrook Saturday in Berne.
Baker’s perfect game led the Starfires to a 2-0 win and took only about 70 minutes. She struck out 10 and threw only 19 balls out of 68 pitches.
“What a performance,” gushed South Adams coach Jessie O’Dell. “Addie’s velocity was up. Her spin on the ball was doing well. There wasn’t many pitches where she missed badly. She was hitting her spots. I thought she looked in control. Every now and then when she’s pitching she’ll have a batter where it’s like, ‘OK, you know, settle down,’ but she looked sharp from pitch one today.”
Apparently not the superstitious type, Baker ignored the adage that you shouldn’t talk about a no-hitter or perfect game while it’s in progress. “About the fifth inning I was talking to J.T. (assistant coach Jeff Turner), and I was like, ‘I’m doing good; I got a perfect game going.’”
The chat obviously didn’t jinx her—or the Starfire defenders. All 11 times that the Panthers put the ball in play, Baker’s backers fielded and threw flawlessly. “They did good,” Baker said. “I was very confident in them.”
Baker’s veteran teammates Macy Pries and Bekah Patterson supplied all the offensive support she needed to notch her 12th win against only one loss. Pries, who led the Starfires with three hits, singled to center to lead off the third inning, stole second and third, and scored on Patterson’s sacrifice fly to right field.
The duo produced an insurance run in the fifth when Pries singled to left with one out, stole second, and raced home on Patterson’s two-out single to center.
“Those two have been clutch all year,” said O’Dell. “That hit that Bekah got there at the end was pretty clutch too. We can always use an insurance run in a tight game.”
Sofia Schwartz also had a good game at the plate, knocking out two hits. She nearly drove in a run in the first inning, but Patterson was thrown out at the plate in a close play when she tried to score from first on Schwartz’s single.
“I felt we could have probably busted it open early,” O’Dell commented. “We were leaving runners on base and popping bunts up, but we did a good job—we got the win. I feel like sometimes this season when we’re not playing our best we’re still able to get wins.”
With a laugh, he added, “And it’s a lot easier when Addie Baker is throwing a perfect game!”
The second game of the doubleheader was quite a contrast to the first one, more of a slugfest. Both teams collected double-digit hits, the Starfires slamming 10, the Panthers 14.
South Adams (16-3) took an 8-3 lead into the fifth inning but gave up four runs to the Panthers in each of the last three frames to lose 15-9.
Pries and Schwartz paced the Starfire offense, each hitting a single and a double. Kenzie Neuenschwander also doubled for South Adams. Schwartz drove in three runs.
Gracie Elliot had three hits for Eastbrook (8-6), including a triple, and drove in five runs. DeLanie Elliot doubled and tripled, driving in two runs and scoring three. Ally Pumroy, Braelee McNutt, and Mylee Brown all had two hits.
Gracie Bixler took the loss for the Starfires. She went the distance, walking three, striking out five, and yielding 10 earned runs.
DeLanie Elliot claimed the win for Eastbrook. She pitched the last 4.2 innings and gave up only three runs (two earned) and five hits while striking out three and walking two.
The Starfires will host ACAC and county rival Adams Central Monday. Game time is 5:00 P.M.
You can hear the Starfires’ game against Heritage live on WZBD Thursday.
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