Emily Derr struck out nine while notching three hits and collecting two RBIs in a 16-8 Bellwood-Antis win over Williamsburg, but it was a negative statistic that she overcame that may have been the most impressive thing about her performance Tuesday.
Although she struck out the side in the first inning, Derr also allowed five free passes. She walked 12 Williamsburg batters on the day along with hitting two more with pitches, and five of the Lady Pirates’ runs were scored by runners who reached as a result of her wildness.
However, in the final three innings as Bellwood-Antis’ offense continued to pound out hit after hit, Derr walked only one batter while retiring nine of the final 11 batters she faced.
“She just settled down a little bit,” Bellwood-Antis Pitching Coach Allison Stodart said. “She was trying to aim the ball in the first few innings, and that’s why she walked so many, but we talked about her going as hard as she can on every pitch in between innings, and she ended up doing that in the last couple innings.”
Williamsburg built leads of 3-0 and 6-3 using the free passes coupled with four Lady Blue Devil errors in the first two innings. The sloppy defensive play may have been due to long periods of time when Williamsburg was not putting the ball into play during either walks or strikeouts.
“Prior to the fifth inning, I had counted pitches, and Emily was up to about 130 pitches, but in the last couple innings she threw about 20 to 25,” Stodart said.
With the pace quickened, Bellwood-Antis looked crisp and comfortable in the field. Tory Baldauf, who had three hits and four runs batted in and has reached base safely in nine of her last 10 plate appearances, made the play of the game by diving into shallow left field to snag a blooper in the sixth inning.
A six-run bottom of the second inning gave Bellwood-Antis a 9-6 lead, but Williamsburg pulled within one with single runs in both the third and fourth innings.
Jenna Brown got the Lady Blue Devils back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth when she tripled and scored on Danielle Riley’s RBI single.
Leading 13-8 in the sixth inning, Leah Snyder, Ashley Putt, Pam Weyant and Baldauf had consecutive singles to give Derr three more insurance runs. The hit was Weyant’s third of the game, and Baldauf’s two-run single capped off an offensive explosion of 16 runs on 18 hits.
“No one is working harder than Tory, and she’s been getting on about every way imaginable,” Bellwood-Antis Manager Alex Sitman said. “All the girls are working hard. We had 18 hits today, and they had two. Everyone in our lineup had a hit, and they showed a lot of discipline and focus in doing so.”
Senior Christine Pfahler joined Baldauf, Weyant and Derr with three hits. She also registered a double and two RBIs.
Megan Saltsgiver had both of Williamsburg’s hits.
The win moves Bellwood-Antis to 2-5. They will host Northern Bedford in the completion of a suspended game today at 4:30. The game will be picked up in the bottom of the first inning with Northern Bedford leading 1-0.
Bellwood-Antis 16 Williamsburg 8
WILLIAMSBURG – Saltsgiver, ss, 3-2-2, Wyland, c, 3-1-0; Rhodes, p, 2-2-0; Speacht, 3b, 4-2-0; Becker, cf, 3-0-0; Fay, 1b, 2-1-0; Yuki, 2b, 3-0-0; Hernandez, lf, 2-0-0; Joo, rf, 4-0-0. TOTALS 26-8-2.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Weyant, cf, 3-4-3; Baldauf, ss, 5-2-3; Pfahler, 2b, 4-2-3; Askey, c, 4-2-1; Derr, p, 4-2-3; Brown, 3b, 3-1-2; Riley, lf, 2-0-1; Snyder, rf, 4-1-1; Putt, dp, 3-2-1; Hamer, 1b, 0-0-0. TOTALS 32-16-18.
Williamsburg 331 100 0 8 -2 5
Bellwood-Antis 360 133 X 16-18-5
3B: Brown.
2B: Pfahler, Derr.
RBI: Speacht 1, Becker 1, Fay 1, Hernandez 1, Baldauf 4, Pfahler 2, Derr 2, Riley 2, Askey 1, Brown 1, Putt 1.
SO: Rhodes 2, Derr 9.
BB: Rhodes 5, Derr 12.
WP: Derr LP: Rhodes.
