By HUNTER O. LYLE
DUKE CENTER, PA – Capping off their impressive regular season, the Otto-Eldred softball team chipped in one more dominating performance, downing Johnsonburg 16-1 in three innings as they honored their two seniors with one more win at home.
Before the first pitch was thrown, the Lady Terrors looked to their senior leadership, honoring Carrie Drummond and Sydney Blendinger, two four-year players that have helped the program grow into the prolific, win-hungry team it is today.
“They’re good seniors. They’re reliable, they’re at practice everyday, they bring good energy,” said Otto-Eldred head coach Kristina Francis. “Sydney obviously has a role that’s a little bit of a utility, where Carrie is in the starting role as a catcher. Sydney had a great day at bats and we can use her speed and that bat later in the playoffs. For Carrie, her role is volleyball. That’s her favorite but last year she was deciding and we couldn’t be happier that she joined us.”
Having only a handful of teams enter the District 9 Class A postseason alongside them, O-E automatically earned a bye through the first round, meaning their playoffs would begin at a neutral site. However, despite knowing that their matchup against the Rammettes would be the final time taking to their own diamond, they wasted no time in getting off it.
With their ace Rayel Hakes stepping into the circle and coming away with two quick Ks, the Lady Terrors dispatched Jburg in just three batters. Getting to the batters’ box sooner rather than later, their offense arrived dialed in. After suffering two outs in their four first batters, persistence paid off. Having a runner on second and third, Hakes would send a hard hit shot through the infield before an overthrow to first let in the first two runs of the day.
Tori Bickford then knocked down a bunt before a consecutive overthrow let in a third score. To end the inning, Holly McDivitt faced a full-count but managed to drill another line drive into the dirt. Another costly mistake by the Rammettes would score two more as O-E pulled ahead by five.
Carrie Drummond stares down the range during her 1-for-2 day at the plate. Through two and a half frames, Drummond tallied one run and one RBI. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Returning to the plate in the second, Jburg once again failed to find an answer to Hakes, who tallied two more strikeouts on her triple digit career total. Still hogging the momentum, the bottom of the frame saw the Lady Terrors seal the win.
Jahden Prince opened the inning with a walk followed by a shot into the outfield from Ayla Van Scoter that brought her around home. A single from Baylee Francis would do the same before O-E loaded the bases with back-to-back walks. A third consecutive walk would score the Lady Terrors’ eighth run of the contest, sparking a run that saw the next six batters drive in seven runs.
With only one out and a Lady Terror at first and third, Drummond smacked an RBI double while Hakes drove in the eleventh run of the frame with a sac-fly.
Jahden Prince streaks past third base one her way home during the Lady Terrors’ blowout win over Johnsonburg. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
“Our success at the plate comes from the time that the girls put into it. We weren’t happy (about our loss to Redbank Valley) so we came down to the batting cage the next day and just listened, stayed stacked, took the criticism that we got and continued to get more swings,” said Kristina Francis. “When we’re in the cage, we utilize the time. It’s not like we come in and are just having a free-for-all. They utilize, they work, they want the next one to be better than the last.”
Heading into the top of the third, the game was all but over. However, the Rammettes avoided a shutout with three consecutive singles that pulled in their lone run of the day. Finding a third out immediately after, the Lady Terrors left the field for the final time victorious.
Nine Lady Terrors recorded hits during their 17th win of the year, with Van Scoter and McDivitt leading the charge with two. Both going a flawless 2-for-2 in the batters’ box, Van Scoter contributed three runs and two RBIs while McDivitt registered three RBIs and scored once personally. Lexi Prince and Bickford, both 1-for-1, each scored twice with two RBIs, while Hakes drove in three runs and rounded home plate twice.
Although the Lady Terrors may play one game week, a make-up game against Bolivar-Richburg that might be counted as scrimmage, their place in the D9 bracket has already been secured. Despite having a bye, O-E plans to keep their engines hot as they begin the hunt for a championship.
“I really think we’ve honed down our lineup and we’ve got some really strong bats one through seven. We’ve got some speed on the bases which will help,” said Kristina Francis. “I want to fine tune our defense. We had some plays at Redbank where they took advantage of us and we threw it around more than we had. That loss is where we can learn from and we’re going to take that to practice the next few days and it’s going to be defense, defense for the next few days. If we can make defensive plays behind Rayel, the hits will come. The runs will come.”
AT DUKE CENTER
R H E
Johnsonburg 0 0 1 1 3 1
Otto-Eldred 5(11)X 16 10 4
JB: Hakes (7 SO, 1 BB) and Drummond
O-E: Beimel (0 SO, 6 BB), Dunworth (2) (1 SO, 1 BB) and Lawrie
