Patriots fall to AH (05/03/08)

ANDERSON - Lauren Williamson had seven players lined up behind her. But she didn't really need them.

Williamson struck out 11 batters in four innings Friday night and her Anderson Highland Scots batted around the order twice in handing the Jay County High School softball team a 19-0, five-inning defeat.

"They were ready to play," said JCHS coach Jack Wood. "This was a big game for both teams. It probably could decide the conference."

The game left Highland at 14-4 overall and 3-1 in the Olympic Athletic Conference. It would clinch the OAC title with a sweep of Connersville Saturday.

Connersville could also clinch with a sweep of the Scots, or there could be a three-way tie for the top spot if Highland and Connersville split and Jay County sweeps its double-header against Muncie Southside.

Highland put itself in position to win the OAC behind a stellar performance from Williamson, who had the visitors' lineup baffled.

The lone Patriot hit came on a lead-off single to center field by Trisha Champ. JCHS (9-7, 2-2 OAC) put the ball in play just twice in the opening four innings as Williamson struck out eight in a row before Champ grounded out to second base in her second at bat.

"She's just that type of fiery player," said Highland coach Doug Holder. "She didn't have a good warm-up today, so she was fired up from the second pitch on. The leadoff hitter got the base hit and that really fired her up."

The only other Jay County base-runner came in the fifth inning when Williamson moved to second base and Stormy Holder took the mound. Pinch hitter Alex Bunch reached first on an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Holder got a strikeout and a ground out to end the game.

The Patriots have struggled offensively this week, managing just three hits in Wednesday's loss to Bluffton. Also, all seven batters struck out Monday against Yorktown before the game was halted because of rain.

"We just weren't aggressive at the plate," said Wood. "We watched too many strikes, swung at bad pitches. We just weren't very disciplined."

The Scots went down one-two-three in the first inning against Amber Edmundson, but got kick-started when Holder got on base to lead off the second thanks to an error. They loaded the bases, and No. 9 hitter Krosley Ogden delivered a two-out, RBI single to left field.

A walk to Katie Lee brought in another run, and Jarah Ice drove in a third on an infield single. Then Kayla Bryne doubled her team's lead, smacking a bases-clearing double to right-center field.

All six runs in the inning were unearned, and Highland picked up another unearned run in the third.

"Again, we talk and we talk about focus and being ready to play and how easy things can turn when we don't do everything we need to do," said Wood.

With a big lead already in front of them, the Scots erupted in the fourth inning. They sent 15 batters to the plate, blasting a pair of two-run home runs and scoring 12 times.

Holder added her second three-run double of the game in the fourth as she finsihed 3-for-4 with two runs and six RBIs. Jessica Jones was also 3-for-4 with three runs, Ice scored three times and Lee drove in three runs.

"I'm a lot happier when you get the number of hits we got compared to four last time," said Holder, whose team lost 4-2 to Jay County on April 14. "We stayed focused ... It was, I don't want to say revenge, but we felt like we shot ourselves in the foot. We wanted to come back and play like we've been playing.

"We've been hitting the ball real well. If you hit the ball, you put it in play, good things are going to happen."

Edmundson took the loss for Jay County, giving up 11 runs - four earned - on 10 hits. All of her three walks came during Highland's six-run second inning.[[In-content Ad]]