Exhilarating rivalry game sees extra innings
A Starr’s Mill batter stands in the box ready for the pitch. The Panthers hit the ball well, but left twelve runners stranded on base throughout the game.
August 26, 2017
“We try to treat every game like it is a big one so when the important games come along we are ready and prepared,” junior Alyssa Angelo said.
Starr’s Mill and Whitewater played a heated region game in which both the Panthers and Wildcats showed their prowess on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. With nine combined runs, nine innings played, and excellent defensive performances from both teams, Tuesday night’s game will surely lead to more great duels between the two sides for the remainder of the year.
Following the conclusion of the national anthem, freshman Paige Andrews took the mound as the home Panthers set up in the field. After the Wildcats lead-off hitter struck out, Whitewater loaded the bases with only one out. Andrews answered the pressure with two straight strikeouts and closed the top of the first. In the Lady Panthers’ first shot at the plate, a walk by lead-off hitter Lauren Flanders was immediately followed by her stealing second base. Junior Lea Duben then lined a hit to center field but Flanders could not advance to third. A failed attempt to steal third base was then followed up by a fly out by junior Kate Ashmore and Duben was thrown out at second base due to mistiming her tag up.
“I’m pretty big on being aggressive and taking chances, so when we had a runner thrown out at third early in the game it made us back off a little bit and that is something we will work on as the season progresses,” head coach Mark Williamson said.
As the second inning started, the Lady Panthers made quick work of the Wildcats and went three up three down. Junior Laura Sellers led off the bottom of the second with a hit to center field which was followed up by a hard line drive straight to the center fielders glove by senior Jordan Childress. Andrews then grounded out but did manage to advance the runner to second base. Beginning a trend that would hurt the Panthers late in the game, a strikeout left sellers stranded on base to close the inning.
“We left too many runners on base and that cost us at the end of the day,” Williamson said.
Whitewater’s third inning ended as soon as it began with only one hitter reaching base off of an error and being left on first as Starr’s Mill made quick work of the Wildcat offense. When the Lady Panthers took the plate, sophomore Kendall Robinson walked with only one out and then stole second base with Flanders at bat. After Flanders was hit by a pitch, a sacrifice bunt advanced both runners to second and third but also put the Panthers at two outs. Ashmore then lined out and Starr’s Mill’s tally of runners left on base grew by two.
After a cold start, the Wildcats stepped up their game in the top of the fourth. With one out, Whitewater hit a double and then followed that up with their second out of the inning. With one runner on second, another Wildcat double drove in the base runner. Although the visiting team proceeded to hit yet another double to shallow left field, a call of runners interference ended the Wildcats’ inning. Starr’s Mill quickly answered as Angelo hit a three-run home run with two outs, but the inning would be over after the next at bat ended in a ground out to the short stop.
“I was very excited but also a little surprised because I do not usually hit the ball like that,” Angelo said.
With the Panthers heading into the fifth inning with a 3-1 lead, their defense would hold up and get them to the plate yet again after Duben made a spectacular grab in center field. A walk put lead off hitter Flanders on first and after a pop up bunt resulted in an out, Flanders stole yet another base to get her tally on the night up to two. With a runner on second and one out, Ashmore hit a double and Sellers followed that up with a walk to get the bases loaded. A pop out and strike out would cut the inning short however, and leave three runners on base.
Starr’s Mill players surround home plate to celebrate the game tying home run hit by senior Emily Nieuwstraten in the sixth inning. This was one of two home runs the Panthers hit on the night.
A pitching change was made for Starr’s Mill in the sixth as senior Abbey Brady replaced Andrews. After the Panthers gave up a walk, an error, and hitting a batter with a pitch, the Wildcats had the bases loaded. Whitewater then proceeded to successfully execute a sacrifice fly out that allowed the third base runner to score and advanced the other runners to second and third. This at bat was immediately followed by a grounder through the gap that drove in the two remaining base runners and saw the hitter reach first safely. Luckily for the Panthers, Brady closed the inning out with a strikeout and Starr’s Mill left the top of the sixth down 4-3.
The Panthers answered this Wildcat rally with a lead-off solo home run by senior Emily Nieuwstraten, but were unable to retake the lead before seeing three batters retired and leaving two more runners stranded on base.
“The home run relieved a lot of pressure for our team,” Nieuwstraten said. “It felt great because I was down 0-2 going into that at bat and I knew it would get the team pumped up.”
The top half of the final inning of regulation saw the Wildcats go three up three down and the Panthers went into their dugout with a chance to hit a walk off. Unfortunately, a strikeout, fly out, and ground out retired the side and stranded Andrews at first after being walked.
The first extra inning saw the Panthers take care of Whitewater, retiring three of four batters and only allowing one to reach on a dead ball. Starr’s Mill was unable to close out the game though, hitting two ground outs and a pop out to force the matchup to go to the ninth.
A strong start to the top of the ninth for the Wildcats saw a double to center field and then the runner advanced to third on a passed ball. A strikeout followed, but the next batter hit a deep fly ball to left field that was enough to allow the runner on third to score and give the two-out Wildcats a one run lead. The inning closed with a pop out to center field and the pressure shifted to the Starr’s Mill bats.
Senior Kailani Serapian led off and reached base on a ground ball but Sellers, the next to bat, popped out allowing the runner to advance to second base. Childress then hit a short pop fly to center field that dropped and Serapian advanced to third while Childress was called safe at first. The first base runner then stole second and put Starr’s Mill in a dangerous position with runners on second and third with only one out. A strikeout followed this at bat and with two outs, the Panthers hit a hard ground ball to third base but it was not enough to get through the fielder’s hands and the Whitewater infield retired the final Starr’s Mill runner.
“I think the team did a good job of working together to stay in the game like we did. We never gave up, and the home run from Alyssa (Angelo) gave us hope and a spark,” Nieuwstraten said.
Even with two home runs and bases loaded in the final inning, the offensive push was not enough to close out the game for Starr’s Mill and the Panthers lost not only the game, but also their lead in the region standings.
Starr’s Mill played Thursday against another region rival, Fayette County, and impressively bounced back from their loss with a 17-0 road win. The Mill’s next game will be another region matchup at Riverdale on Aug. 29 at 5:30 p.m.
