DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Addie Baker struck out a whopping 12 Homestead Spartans Tuesday as the South Adams Starfires jumped on the board early and never looked back, winning their seventh game in seven tries in 2025, 5-0.
“Addie was a bulldog tonight,” said head coach Jessie O’Dell after the win. “She looked very sharp. She had a couple of batters that she would probably like to get back, but she was sharp.”
O’Dell tried to recall a batter who hit the ball to the left side of the infield and couldn’t think of one.
Baker allowed just three hits and three walks, but two of those baserunners were erased by good defense behind the SA ace, as she faced just four over the minimum for the complete game shutout.
“Homestead hitters were having a tough time getting good contact on the ball.”
O’Dell was intentional in also spilling praise on the other end of his starting battery – catcher Reagan Bollenbacher.
“First off, we have to give a lot of credit to her behind the plate,” said the coach. “She has done a tremendous job taking over after Sofia Schwartz graduated. She calls a great game and has been a rock back there.”
South Adams scored three times in the top of the first to set the tone for the night. Bekah Patterson, Shelby Weigel and Baker had three hits and two runs on the board in the first seven pitches of the game – a good omen for a team looking to go 7-0 at the end of the night.
Baker’s courtesy runner, Charlee Bollenbacher, scored on a ground ball for the third run and then Baker went to work. After allowing a single in the first, she struck out the next two and she was off and running.
“Offensively we had some really good at-bats,” continued O’Dell. “Several kids grinded out long at-bats and had big, two-strike hits.”
Baker sparked the second rally for the Stars with a single and she scored on Kenzie Neuenschwander’s home run in the top of the third. The bomb to center was the end of the night for starting pitcher Macy Arnold.
Patterson, Baker and Neuenschwander all had two hits in the winning effort for coach O’Dell’s team.
The Starfires continue to put emphasis on the basics. They stole three bases Tuesday night and committed zero errors.
While the team should certainly celebrate the shutout victory over the biggest school in the area, coach O’Dell knows that his schedule only gets more and more difficult.
“Tomorrow we host East Noble, which will be a tough task,” said the coach. “Baker will get the night off, so Beitler and the rest of the staff will have to be ready to step up.”
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