Breaking through

Jaycie Blankenbaker slides in safe at third base.

By Brian Besch
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Big Sandy softball was able to break a streak of bad luck Tuesday, securing a 4-3 victory over the Lady Oilers of West Hardin.

“We’ve lost four games leading up to this by a total of six runs,” Big Sandy coach Mark Young said of the team’s past two weeks. “We just couldn’t pull it out, but you just never know what’s going to happen. The girls were excited for this game and knew the depth and seriousness of it.”

West Hardin got the scoring started in Dallardsville with a double in the third inning, then a bunt that was overthrown at first base for a 1-0 advantage.

Big Sandy answered in the bottom half with Jaycie Blankenbaker singling, and Anastasia Chitty doing the same. Shelly Wetherford brought them both home with a two-run double to give the Lady Cats their first lead.

A walk, passed ball and error on a stolen base tied the game at 2-2 for West Hardin in the top of the fourth.

In the fifth, a single and passed ball put a runner in scoring position. The Big Sandy defense had trouble with a bunt, attempting to throw to first and then home, getting neither runner. The Lady Oilers were back in front at 3-2.

Yaheira Battise led off the sixth with a base hit to left. She would advance all the way to home on two passed balls and an overthrow at third to tie it at three apiece. With a runner on, Lexi Joe Richardson hit into a fielder’s choice and Haleigh Brown singled. Paige Cox bunted and a wild throw at third allowed Big Sandy to move ahead for good at 4-3.

“We had the bottom of our lineup just come through,” Young said. “The top of our lineup went 1-for-12 today, and it’s been flipped. Our bottom has done nothing in the past two weeks, but they came through today. This is one of those things where it was a total team effort.”

Chitty, the team’s lone senior playing her final home game, pitched the entire contest. She retired the Lady Oilers in order in the seventh to preserve the one-run win.

It ends a string of four consecutive one- or two-run losses for Big Sandy – games the coaching staff would like to have back.

“Three out of four for absolute sure,” Young said of the missed opportunities. “We had Evadale 9-1 and they scored 10 runs to win it. You have to finish the games and play it out until the last out, and thankfully, we did that today.”

Big Sandy is now 9-4 in district. Evadale holds the top spot, while West Hardin Deweyville and Big Sandy are fighting for playoff seeding.

“We are in third right now, and if there is some shake up between one and two, we could be in a two-way tie for second if we win next Monday against this team. We started out with 23 girls, and we’ve had some quit, a few fail, and one for personal reasons had to stop. I’ve got girls out there that wouldn’t have seen the field if not for that. That has been tough, because with these close games, there is no doubt we would have won them.”