Central Softball and Baseball marched to the beat of a different drum resonating in Baker as the Lady Falcons narrowly tapped past East Hardy 5-4, while simultaneously down the hillside the Falcons rolled to a crescendo in a 12-0 shutout over the Cougars in season openers last Monday.
“I was proud of the girls for fighting back. That shows that they have heart. I would rather see them going down with a fight, than just rolling over and giving up. It was nice to see Scott and Ivy [Mongold]. Central is a very nice ball club. Scott has done a great job and I wish them luck this season. I can’t wait to see them again,” East Hardy Softball coach Ashley Taylor remarked.
In the softball game, Central had a 5-0 advantage and the Lady Cougars fought back with a pair of two-run home runs by Leanna Basye in the sixth inning and Skye Metzer in the seventh inning to nearly surmount the comeback.
East Hardy pitcher Brooke Miller began the contest jamming Central leadoff batter Chloe Burton into a pop-up caught by Madison Strawderman at second base.
The Lady Falcons responded with a double by Megan Babcock into right field.
Babcock was stranded at third base on two groundouts fielded by East Hardy shortstop Julia Hahn with the throws to Leanna Basye at first base.
Central pitcher Alicia Ball threw a strikeout to East Hardy leadoff batter Skye Metzer which was dropped and the throw to first base was in time.
The Lady Cougars next two batters Julia Hahn and Emma Baker reached on errors by Babcock at shortstop, then Miller’s grounder hit Hahn for an out.
Basye was given a walk which loaded the bases for East Hardy, but Ball got out of the predicament with a strikeout to Jessica Smith.
Central’s Ivy Mongold, daughter of coach Scott Mongold, grounded out to Miller with the throw to Basye to start the second inning.
Kristina Stead hit a line drive to Madison Strawderman at second base for the second out.
The Lady Falcons took a 1-nil edge on a solo home run by Ball, then Basye caught the last out of the frame.
The Central dugout was entertaining with drumsticks hitting the fence during each at-bat.
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East Hardy’s Chelsea Keller struck out and Lexi Strawderman grounded out before Madison Strawderman reached base on a walk, but was left on board on a flyout by Metzer near the center field fence.
Central opened the third inning with back-to-back singles by Samantha Foshey and Chloe Burton with both advancing on a sacrifice bunt by Babcock.
Alex Mantz hit a grounder to Hahn, who kept the ball looking over at third base to deny a run.
Darden Lear plated two runs with a hit corralled by right fielder Emily Yates with the throw home not in time for Metzer to make the tag on the second runner, 3-0.
Mongold singled into center field to load the bases and a rundown attempt wasn’t fruitful.
Mantz was caught stealing home with Metzer, Baker and Miller teaming up for the out.
Stead and Ball notched back-to-back RBI singles to center field to extend the lead to 5-0.
“Counting scrimmages that was our sixth game of the year. So we’re kind of a little ahead of East Hardy in the fact that we’ve got to play and they haven’t,” Central Softball Coach Scott Mongold stated.
“I was really impressed by how well East Hardy hit the ball tonight. Usually this time of year the pitching is ahead of the hitting. Even some of their outs were loud, we just had someone standing there to catch it, that’s how it goes sometimes. We’re young. There were two freshmen in the line-up for us tonight including the pitcher. She struggled in the first inning and almost got in trouble, but after that she settled in until the 7th. She was tired, her control was going away but being a non-district game we decided to see if she could finish it. She did, it wasn’t the prettiest, but she found a way to get it done. As a coach that’s all you can ask for.”
Basye came in to pitch for the Lady Cougars and caught a line drive by Natalie Broy.
East Hardy went down in order on a strikeout and a pair of groundouts fielded by Burton.
Burton walked with one out in the fourth inning, then Hahn turned a double play with a catch and throw to Miller at first base.
The Lady Cougars’ Basye and Smith hit two grounders back to Ball in the circle for outs, then Ball notched a strikeout.
Mantz reached base on an error by Baker at third base in the top of the fifth inning, then Lear flew out to second baseman Madison Strawderman and Mongold flew out to Smith in left field and Baker finished the side collecting a grounder thrown to Miller.
East Hardy’s Lexi Strawderman got on base with a single into center field in the bottom of the fifth inning before being thrown out on a fielder’s choice hit by Madison Strawderman.
The Lady Cougars failed to score as Metzer hit into a fielder’s choice and Hahn struck out while chewing gum.
The Lady Falcons stranded Broy after hitting a single in the sixth inning.
Baker drew a walk to begin the bottom of the frame for East Hardy, then advanced on a groundout by Miller.
Basye smashed a two-run home run over the center field fence to make it 5-2.
Smith struck out looking and Emily Moyers grounded out to Burton as the game entered the seventh inning.
Mantz reached base on an error with one out which eluded the dive of Hahn at shortstop without losing her gum, then Lear singled to right field as the Lady Falcons threatened to score.
Mongold hit into a double play from Baker to Miller.
Lexi Strawderman singled to begin the final rally attempt in the seventh inning, then Madison Strawderman struck out.
Metzer blasted a two-run home run over the center field fence to create a 5-4 score.
The Lady Cougars were on the hunt for a comeback as Hahn was given a walk, but Baker hit into a double play as Burton caught the ball and the throw to first baseman Lear got Hahn, who failed to tag up.
In the baseball game, Central pitcher Kelan Hoover tossed six strikeouts and allowed two hits in the 12-0 shutout.
East Hardy’s only hits were a double by Logan Whetzel in the first inning and a single by Andrew Tharp in the third inning.
“Simple mistakes killed us defensively and we couldn’t get the bats going but we’re going to be working hard to fix that for our next game,” East Hardy Baseball coach Eric Heflin noted.
East Hardy senior Clay Skovron pitched 2.2 innings with five hits, eight runs, four walks and two strikeouts, then fellow senior Brett Tharp took the mound for 1.1 innings allowing one hit and one run with three walks and two strikeouts.
East Hardy pitcher Seth Smith finished the game with one hit and three runs with two walks.
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