DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
DECATUR – “She did it on the mound. She did it at the plate. She did it in the dugout.”
That’s how South Adams head coach Jessie O’Dell summed up Friday night.
Addie Baker did everything she could to help the South Adams Starfires beat the Bellmont Braves on a special night under the lights in Decatur, tossing a one-hitter, going 3-for-4 at the plate and leading the team to an emotional victory.
“I don’t know,” said O’Dell when asked how Friday’s performance matches up to the rest of Baker’s career highlights. “Addie has had some really good games, but I will say this – Addie pitched very well last night againsat a good team in a great environment.”
The Starfire defense did their job, as well, turning a quick double play to get out of a big first-inning jam and negating two errors that could have given the Braves a chance to get on top early.
South Adams eliminated another base runner in the bottom of the fourth with a line drive double play.
Bellmont did not get their first hit until there were two outs in the bottom of the fifth and just when the Braves looked to be ready to break through, Baker closed the door with a backwards K to end the inning.
She only allowed one more baserunner (after an infield error) the rest of the way.
Errors were the name of the game throughout the night, with the two teams combining to make eight mistakes. They spoiled a fine outing for Bellmont starter, as well, with Bella Ashley striking out nine. Three of the five South Adams runs were unearned.
“I have to give their kid (Ashley) in the circle a lot of credit,” said the South Adams coach. “She did a good job of changing speeds. She is going to be a good one.”
O’Dell noted that his team was probably even defensively, with great plays making up for some costly mistakes.
“Bellmont put the ball in play and had several line drives,” he said, “but our defense answered the call. In the first inning we gave them too many outs because of our defense, but we survived without them scoring. That was a huge deal.”
Bekah Patterson tripled on the second pitch of the ballgame, then came home to score on a groundout to the left side. The Starfires stranded two runners, though, later in the inning.
“Both Mindy (Buuck) and I probably thought we left way too many runners on base in the first few innings,” admitted O’Dell. “I know we did. I felt we were on the verge of having big innings several times, but we couldn’t get the big hits with runners on base.”
South Adams scored twice in the second with the help of an infield error and a hit batsmen. They hurt their chances for a big inning with two outs on the basepaths, though.
The Starfires added two more insurance runs in the top of the seventh when Patterson and Baker got on base with singles. They scored their fifth run on a passed ball.
The game also served as a tribute game for both teams, with the Bellmont side paying tribute to their late athletic director, Dale Manis.
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