West Holmes uses all of its hits and runs in game one, splitting a doubleheader
And that’s about as succinct and accurate a summary as you’re probably ever going to read about a doubleheader, as every single player in the Lady Knights lineup would reach base safely through the first six innings against the Fighting Irish, while banging out 13 hits – including two home runs from junior first baseman Kara Barnes and a grand slam by junior third baseman Brooke Landon – before going quietly in the top of inning number seven and providing ominous foreshadowing of what was to come in game two.
Barnes delivered her first home run against the Fighting Irish – who were more Passive than Fighting on this day – with two outs in the second inning, as she blasted an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence to give the Lady Knights a 1-0 lead.
That’s all sophomore starting pitcher Kylie Hawkins would need to get through the first half of the game, as she allowed only two base hits and four base runners through the first four innings against St. Vincent-St. Mary – while striking out four – before the Lady Knights rallied for four more in the top of inning number five.
The West Holmes battery-mates, Hawkins and senior catcher Kara Schrock sparked the fifth inning rally by delivering RBI singles, and the Lady Knights tacked on two more runs on errors by the Fighting Irish, but back-to-back walks by Hawkins and a two-run error by junior second baseman Courtney Wigton in the bottom half cut the lead to 5-2 going into the final two innings.
But by the time the Irish came to the plate again they were staring up at an eight-run deficit, after the Lady Knights finished smacking all the snot out of the ball, adding five more runs in the top of inning number six, as Wigton walked to lead things off, Hawkins and Schrock each singled, and they all came around to score when Landon nearly put one over the scoreboard beyond the fence in left field for her third career grand slam.
“Coming off the bat, I knew,” said Landon afterward. “It was just a good feeling.”
Barnes got to know that feeling for the second time two batters later when she hit a towering drive over the fence in left to cap the Lady Knights 10-run barrage, but after Hawkins squelched a two-run final-inning rally from St. Vincent-St. Mary by collecting her sixth strikeout and finishing the complete-game three-hitter, the good feelings would come to an end for West Holmes as Strasburg would monopolize all the positivity in game two, starting with the first career home run by Lady Tigers’ starting pitcher Kristen Smith in the bottom of the first that gave Strasburg a quick 2-0 lead.
“My first career home run, it was pretty exciting, a real confidence booster,” said Smith, who allowed a leadoff single to Hawkins and a double to Landon in the top of the first but wouldn’t even allow another Lady Knights base runner until the top of the sixth, striking out 11 West Holmes batters along the way with a masterful change up and curve that set up her rise ball all game long. “They beat Akron [St. Vincent-St. Mary] better than we did. I really was expecting them to hit the ball as well as how they hit against the other team, so it was nice to shut them out.”
Strasburg would hit the ball as well as how West Holmes did against the other team, however, the Lady Tigers would get to Lady Knights sophomore starter Hannah Frank for 14 hits, ending the game with the 10-run mercy rule in the bottom of the sixth inning when left-fielder Amanda Dreher drove home Strasburg shortstop Karley DiBacco with the run that made it 10-0, although four of those runs were unearned thanks to seven West Holmes errors.
“It’s awfully hard to beat Strasburg with seven errors and 11 strikeouts,” said Chenevey afterward. “We came in to the day expecting we’d probably split. We thought we’d beat St. V’s and knew that Strasburg was going to be a tough team.
“It was certainly nice to see our bats come alive in game one,” added the former Ohio State and Akron Racers catcher. “We hit the ball hard. Even some of the outs we made we hit the ball hard. Three home runs in a game, you can’t complain about that. And we didn’t strike out once, which is great for us. We haven’t done that yet this season and it’s rare that we ever do that. I’m really, really pleased with the fact that we hit the ball and put it in play.”
And while it was a tale of two ballgames for West Holmes on Saturday afternoon in Strasburg with the Lady Tigers hoarding all the positives in game two, there was one constant positive throughout the day for the team from the western half of Holmes County that would have made it difficult for someone happening upon the softball field to figure out if the Lady Knights were winning or losing at any given point in time without looking up at the scoreboard – and that was the never-ending positive energy and shouts of encouragement coming from Landon at third base.
Standing roughly 6-feet tall, with red hair braided into two pig tails on the back of her head, Landon’s facial expressions and mannerisms are sometimes reminiscent of Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy, but the leadership she exudes is invaluable for a team that could easily collapse emotionally when following six run wins with 10-run losses.
“You can’t stop talking,” said Landon after game two, still wearing a smile on her face. “Once you’re down you don’t have anything to lose so you might as well go all out. I’m more of a positive person. I look at all the benefits rather than the negatives.”
“Brooke is very vocal and working very hard to keep [her teammates] in the game, and to keep them working and keep them pushing, and I really appreciate that,” added Chenevey. “Not only do we need her bat, we need that leadership as well.”
She’ll provide both on Tuesday, April 12 when the Lady Knights welcome Mansfield Senior to West Holmes and look to improve on a 1-2 record in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Last year against the Lady Tygers from Mansfield, Landon smacked two grand slams in one game and never stopped shouting encouragement to all of her teammates.
Published: April 9, 2011
