Silverdale Slips Past Baylor With Unearned Run

Bita Cox Has 12 Strikeouts As Lady Seahawks Win, 2-1, In 10 Innings

There are times when life just isn't fair.  Sports come to mind when two teams battle for all they're worth, but somebody has to lose and that can be a total heartbreaking experience if you're there to witness it.

Such was the case at Silverdale Tuesday afternoon as they had a classic battle with Baylor.  To make a long story short, the Lady Seahawks prevailed by a slim 2-1 margin in 10 innings when the winning run scored on an infield throwing error by the Lady Red Raiders.

Silverdale improves to 6-1 while Baylor drops to 5-2.

Silverdale coach Jackie Freeland is probably still trying to catch her breath and to get her heart to slow down a little as her team found a way to win at the end.

"We had to do something," she said in reference to the game where Baylor left eight runners on base and Silverdale six.

"That was stressful, but fun.  But what a great game all around by two pretty good teams.  We didn't get many opportunities to score early in the game, so we had to take advantage of doing the small things.  We were so lucky that Baylor didn't score in the top of the inning when they had the bases loaded and nobody out.

"We had to settle in at the start, but we were able to take advantage of a Baylor mistake and were lucky to win," Freeland added.

Coach Kelli Smith has been in some great games in her long career as the Baylor coach, but she'll be hard pressed to find one that was any closer or more intense than this one.

"What a great game as there were simply to great pitching performances.  I was really proud of Adison Wallington, who pitched the entire game for us.  She didn't even get out of the first inning in her last time out, but we had a game plan and just didn't get the job done," she said after most of the crowd had headed to the parking lot.

"We had the bases loaded and nobody out, but they made a great double play and didn't get anything.  They were able to get the breaks and we didn't.  We had several chances, but took too many third strikes looking.

"Games like this will only make us better and that's why we play great teams like Silverdale.  There's no question the fans got their money's worth today," she concluded with a smile.

Bita Cox was the winning pitcher for the Lady Seahawks after allowing one run on seven hits while walking two and recording a dozen strikeouts.  Her counterpart Wallington was equally as good with one earned run on five hits while walking one and recording 10 strikeouts.

Both teams scored single runs in the first inning, but it was a bunch of goose eggs until the 10th when the Lady Seahawks pushed across the winning run.

Chloe Cunningham led off the Baylor first with a walk and went to second on a sacrifice bunt bunt by Spencer Higgins.  Xahara Willis walked to put two runners on before a single by Wallington plated Cunningham with the first run.

Amiya Leach, who had three singles on the day for Baylor, stroked her first hit to right, but was stranded when Cox recorded her first strikeout.

Eliana Phillips reached in the first for Silverdale when she got hit by a pitch before stealing second.  Jaliyah Whitaker walked before Braylee Raby reached on an infield hit to load the bases.  Phillips then scored the first run when Giana D'Amica grounded to second.

Both teams scattered hits for the next eight innings, but nobody ever really threatened.

Heidi Bryant had an infield single to lead off the Silverdale third and Phillips reached on a perfect bunt, but Wallington retired the next three hitters to escape further trouble.

Things got interesting when the game reached the 10th inning and the international tie-breaker was put into place where the player who made the last out of the previous inning starts out on second base.

Emma Hartline started out on second for Baylor and went to third on a single by Harper Reeves.  A Silverdale infield error loaded the bases with nobody out before Cunningham hit a hard grounder back to Cox, who fired home for the first out before catcher Macie Williams made a perfect throw to first to complete the double play where nobody scored.

Higgins then grounded to short to end the inning.

Williams was the runner on second for the Lady Seahawks.  Avery Danz took a called third strike for the first out before Williams went to third on a nice sacrifice by Kenslee Stiner.  Heidi Bryant then ripped a hard grounder up the middle, but the throw to first was wide as Williams scooted home with the winning run.

Leach was the only player for either team with more than one hit and she had three.

Both teams will be back in action on Thursday with Baylor hosting South Pittsburg and Silverdale hosting defending state champion Chattanooga Christian.

BAYLOR  100 000 000 0 – 1 7 2

SILVERDALE  100 000 000 1 – 2 5 1

Wallington and Willis; Cox and Williams.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)
Silverdale Slips Past Baylor With Unearned Run - Chattanoogan.com

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