DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
BERNE – “Nobody was down, everybody was hype and that’s what really helped us win the game.”
The casual observer might have figured Sofia Schwartz and the #4 South Adams Starfires would feel like underdogs against Eastside.
After all, the #7 Blazers had eliminated them in each of the last two seasons.
“I wasn’t nervous at all. I took a couple of deep breaths and trusted that everyone else was going to do their job.”
That’s exactly what South Adams did.
Schwartz showed determination and hustle throughout the game Tuesday and collected three hits, knocking in three of the four Starfire runs to lead the team to their first regional title since Sofia was in the fifth grade.
“We knew it was going to be our last game playing on this field, so I’m glad we got a win out of it.”
The contest was a chess match between SA’s Jessie O’Dell and Brennen Kitchen, who won a state title with the Blazers back in 2022. That state title started with a 14-2 victory over the Starfires in the very first game of the tournament. It stands as the only sectional loss for South Adams in the last nine years.
At one point in the game, South Adams made all three outs on the basepaths, trying to force Eastside into a mistake. Instead, they turned a game-saving double play, tagging out Schwartz in a rundown, but not until after she had given the Stars the lead at 3-2.
Somewhat fittingly, the first team to blink and make a true mistake was Eastside and it ended up costing them the winning run.
After the Blazers had tied the game at 3-3 with an Elodie Bishop double in the 4th inning, Addie Baker led off the bottom of the frame with a double to right.
Reagan Bollenbacher (pictured in gallery below), Baker’s courtesy runner, took third a few pitches later as Avery Brown showed bunt and the ball got past the Eastside catcher, Timmery Hunter. Running toward coach O’Dell, Bollenbacher stopped short of third and almost turned around, thinking Brown must have fouled the pitch off. She narrowly beat a late throw from Hunter to third, much to the relief of O’Dell.
After Brown was struck out by Moyra McAtee, Bollenbacher drew a throw from Hunter on a pickoff attempt, but Kennedy Smyth, the Eastside 3B, was nowhere near the bag to make the catch and the ball sailed into left field, sending Bollenbacher scampering home to give the home team a 4-3 lead.
The rest of the game belonged to Baker.
With the lead in hand, Baker set down the next nine batters in a row, striking out five of them and allowing just a couple of easy pop ups to the infield. The Blazers never got even a sniff of a rally and within minutes, the home crowd was pouring onto the field for the trophy presentation.
It was a team performance for South Adams, with each player in the game contributing by simply fulfilling their role. Senior Avery Brown made an outstanding, run-saving catch in the third inning. With two runners on and two outs, she put her body on the line on a ball in the gap and made a diving play (pictured below).
Baker finished the contest with an outstanding line. She allowed just three hits, each one scoring a single run for the Blazers. She struck out ten and walked four, but it was the streak of 10 consecutive batters at the end of the game that was most impressive.
On the losing side, McAtee also pitched well. Having faced the Starfires back in 2022, McAtee walked just two and struck out six, but it was the string of outfield hits that made the difference. South Adams touched McAtee for seven hits. The winning run was unearned due to the throwing error.
Schwartz drove in the Stars’ first run with a single over the infield, but Eastside did not throw home to catch the speedy Macy Pries, instead going to third to get Bekah Patterson out.
The most outrageous half-inning of the game came in the third. Samantha Weigel dropped a bunt down to lead off the inning (shown in gallery above) and reach ahead of Pries, who drew a walk. The Stars were ready to sacrifice Shea Alberson to set up Patterson and Schwartz for RBI opportunities, but Eastside positioned themselves perfectly, wheeling around to gun down Weigel advancing to third.
That left the moment up to Bekah Patterson and she began every pitch of her at-bat against McAtee by showing bunt. On the fifth pitch, she decided to slap and the two steps she gained before striking the ball to the third baseman were enough to get her safely to first ahead of the throw and load the bases for Schwartz.
As mentioned earlier, Schwartz delivered what was ultimately the key hit of the game, scoring Pries and Alberson with a double off the base of the fence in left center. Patterson was called out at home on a sweeping tag to the leg as she touched the plate and Schwartz attempted to take third, but found herself in a rundown and an eventual double play (see gallery below for entire sequence).
The most contentious moment of the game came in the bottom of the sixth with the Stars seeking an insurance run. Schwartz hit a ground ball hard down the line and off the glove of Smyth for her third hit of the game and then Addie Baker nearly knocked Smyth into next week with an absolute bullet straight at the third baseman’s head. Smyth saved herself with her glove, but the Stars had two on and just one out with Avery Brown at the plate.
Coach O’Dell chose to bunt, but Brown’s attempt on the first pitch took a big bounce and the ball caught Brown on the hand after she had taken two steps. The umpire correctly ruled that Brown had left the batter’s box and called her out. The rally died on the next pitch when Kenzie Neuenschwander hit a line drive just in reach of the Eastside shortstop.
The Starfires now turn their attention to three solid days of practice before taking on Lapel on Saturday in Warsaw. South Adams and the Bulldogs will play in the second game after Delphi takes on either North Newton or Hebron, who were rained out Tuesday night.
“They (Eastside) are a good team, there’s no doubt,” said SA head coach Jessie O’Dell after the win. “But we have a great group of kids and I am so happy for them.”
Forest Park Semi-State
#1 Cascade vs. #13 North Posey – 11 a.m.
Brownstown Central vs. #3 Eastern Hancock
Warsaw Semi-State
Delphi vs. #12 North Newton or Hebron – 11 a.m.
#4 South Adams vs. #6 Lapel – 1 p.m.
