A Senior Moment
by Mike Struna
May 13, 2009
A SENIOR MOMENT
Lady Devils Top Princeton 4-3
Chris Yucus- BCR
SPRING VALLEY — Seniors came up big for Hall on their Senior Night,
as the Lady Red Devils rallied for a 4-3 win in the seventh inning,
topping Princeton in NCIC Lincoln softball action. With the score
knotted up at 3-3, senior catcher Erin Polte led off the bottom of
the seventh by drawing a walk off of Princeton starter Gwen Holmes.
With Polte aboard, fellow senior Chelsea Sweezey laid down a
sacrifice bunt to move her into scoring position.
With one out, senior shortstop Sara Smoode worked Holmes to a 2-2
count before slapping a hit into left field, driving in Polte from
second for the game-winning run.
“To be completely honest, I was a little nervous because I had two
strikes,” Smoode said, “but it’s senior night, and I’m a senior. I
just had to stay in there and have confidence in myself and wait on
the perfect pitch, and hit it.”
Smoode said she liked what she saw from Holmes’ final offering. “It
was right down the middle. She put it right down the middle, and I
had two strikes and had to go for it.”
Senior Cally Kowalski picked up the win, pitching for Hall, going
all seven innings and allowing three runs off of five Princeton
hits while striking out four Tigresses, and issuing three
walks.
“I was very happy for the girls. It was senior night, and what a
way to go out, beating Princeton for the second time,” Hall coach
Pete Kasperski said. “I’m happy with the way all of my seniors
played, especially Sara Smoode coming up with that big hit at the
end there, I thought that was nice.”
Trailing 3-2 to start the seventh, Princeton pinch hitter Tara
Favia drew a lead off walk from Kowalski, and promptly swiped
second base. A groundout from Jessica Martell to Kowalski allowed
Favia to advance to third, and center-fielder Brooke Mueller
followed up with an RBI groundout on the right side of the infield
to drive in Favia and tie the game at three runs apiece.
The Tigresses got on the board first taking a 2-0 advantage in the
second inning when Martell hit a hard grounder down the first-base
line to score Brianna Kamphuis and Megan Gibson.
Hall answered back with a run in the fourth when Smoode advanced
home from third on a sacrifice fly from Kowalski.
The Lady Red Devils took a 3-2 advantage in the fifth, scoring
their first run of the frame when Hall base runner Christina
Richardson, Princeton shortstop Taylor Williams and a ground ball
from Sweezey all converged at the same time and place on the left
side of the infield, prohibiting Williams from cleanly fielding the
ball, and allowing Richardson to score from second as the ball
rolled its way into the outfield. The second run of the inning came
on the next batter when Smoode’s infield single drove home Polte.
Holmes picked up the loss pitching for Princeton, allowing four
runs off of six hits, with three strikeouts and four walks.
“Overall, I think it’s a good character builder for the kids,” said
PHS coach Bob James of his team’s hard-fought loss. “It just keeps
building momentum for them. They know they can play with anybody,
and that’s the important thing.”
