{"id":2746,"date":"2023-05-23T11:02:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T15:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=2746"},"modified":"2023-05-23T14:21:25","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T18:21:25","slug":"starfires-advance-at-manchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/23\/starfires-advance-at-manchester\/","title":{"rendered":"Starfires advance at Manchester"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>RANDY HISNER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NORTH MANCHESTER &#8211; The South Adams Starfires took a 5-0 lead after two innings and then coasted to a 10-3 opening-round win over ACAC foe Bluffton Monday in the 2A Manchester Softball Sectional, setting up a semifinal showdown with county and conference rival Adams Central Tuesday at 5:30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"136\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/98.158.76.108\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Gold-Medal-Logo_gold-and-black-1024x217.jpg?resize=640%2C136\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-521\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Gold-Medal-Logo_gold-and-black.jpg?resize=1024%2C217&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Gold-Medal-Logo_gold-and-black.jpg?resize=300%2C64&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Gold-Medal-Logo_gold-and-black.jpg?resize=768%2C163&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Gold-Medal-Logo_gold-and-black.jpg?resize=1536%2C325&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Gold-Medal-Logo_gold-and-black.jpg?resize=2048%2C434&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Gold-Medal-Logo_gold-and-black.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Gold-Medal-Logo_gold-and-black.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Proud sponsor of South Adams athletics on WZBD.com!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Starfires (17-9) pounded out ten hits\u2014including two each by Macy Pries, Bekah Patterson, and Cora Baker\u2014and Peyton Pries pitched five innings of one-run ball to key the victory over the Tigers, who finished the season 7-16-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/98.158.76.108\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/New-Recording-44.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>South Adams coach Jessie O&#8217;Dell discusses the win for the Starfires with WZBD&#8217;s Randy Hisner. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Pries pitched the first three innings and the last two, as coach Jessie O\u2019Dell designed a pitch-by-committee strategy to familiarize his top three hurlers with the unusual Manchester pitching area. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a funky mound,\u201d said O\u2019Dell. \u201cI wanted to let our kids all experience being on it in case they have to come in and pitch on it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reagan Beitler pitched the fourth inning, giving up two runs, and Gracy Bixler allowed no runs in the fifth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pries didn\u2019t mind that O\u2019Dell reinserted her after a two-inning interruption\u2014in fact, she requested the move. \u201cIt felt great,\u201d she said. \u201cI just told him I wanted to finish it, so he put me back in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The only run Pries yielded was on a long third-inning home run to center field by Bluffton pitcher Lily King, who also had two more hits and another RBI.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Four Starfire hits, a walk, and a Bluffton infield error allowed South Adams to take an early lead with three runs in the bottom of the first.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After shortstop Macy Pries led off with a line-drive single to left, Bekah Patterson hit what turned out to be a rare infield double. Her short popup between the mound and the first base line fell between King and first baseman Averianna Petty. When the ball hit the ground, it spun away from both defenders. By the time it was retrieved, the speedy Patterson had sprinted to second, Pries advancing to third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peyton Pries struck out, but catcher Sophia Schwartz grounded a single to left, scoring both runners. A single by Mackenzie Neuenschwander and a walk to Tessa Bernard loaded the bases, and Schwartz scored the third run of the inning when Bluffton third baseman Tyrah Shaw couldn\u2019t handle Reagan Beitler\u2019s grounder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"380\" height=\"321\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/98.158.76.108\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_1961.jpg?resize=380%2C321\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2755\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_1961.jpg?w=380&amp;ssl=1 380w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/IMG_1961.jpg?resize=300%2C253&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Sophia Schwartz singled to left in the bottom of the first for South Adams. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the second inning, Bernard drove in the Starfires\u2019 fourth and fifth runs with a sharp single down the third base line. The hit drove in Macy Pries, who had walked, and Lindsey LeFever, the courtesy runner for pitcher Peyton Pries, who had been hit by a pitch. Macy Pries and LeFever had both advanced on Schwartz\u2019s walk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Macy Pries drove in the Starfires\u2019 sixth run with a single in the third inning. Then the Starfires made it 8-1 when they scored two runs on Schwartz\u2019s fielder\u2019s choice grounder, the second run coming on an errant throw, one of three Bluffton errors in the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Tigers scored two in the fourth on a double by Marly Drayer, a single by Claire Craighead, Tressa Renner\u2019s RBI groundout, and King\u2019s single.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>South Adams increased its lead to 10-3 with two unearned runs in the fourth. Neither team scored again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peyton Pries notched the win, striking out two and giving up two walks and five hits. King went the route and took the loss, walking six and striking out five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"http:\/\/98.158.76.108\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/New-Recording-57.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Peyton Pries discusses her night with WZBD&#8217;s Randy Hisner. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RANDY HISNER WZBD.com NORTH MANCHESTER &#8211; The South Adams Starfires took a 5-0 lead after two innings and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[52,15,40,28,26],"class_list":["post-2746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-bluffton","tag-featured","tag-softball","tag-southadams","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/8I7A2561.jpeg?fit=1607%2C1502&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}