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Lady Broncos knock off Blue Devils

Ray DiMonda
Posted 2/22/17

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Coming off a win versus Nease the night before, the Middleburg High Broncos went across town to Clay High for a Friday night matchup and went home the victors after their defense …

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Lady Broncos knock off Blue Devils


Posted

GREEN COVE SPRINGS - Coming off a win versus Nease the night before, the Middleburg High Broncos went across town to Clay High for a Friday night matchup and went home the victors after their defense stopped a Clay rally in the sixth inning, holding the Blue Devils to two runs all night. In the end, Middleburg put up enough to beat Clay 5-2.

The Blue Devils would have a hard time waking their bats up and getting out of the start gate. They struggled to get a runner on base until the third inning. Middleburg would get runners on, but couldn’t finish the deal until Hunter Pagett drove the ball between Clay’s Left and Center outfielders. Early season issues showed their head as the girls never called for the ball and it fell between them. Pagett made it to second on the error and was in scoring position. Haleigh Wright would follow behind with another double pushing Pagett in for the Broncos first run. Middleburg Head Coach ?? Meltzer said “I like my bunch. This is a scrappy little bunch. We hit the ball well, tonight my freshman pitched well and I like where we’re at.”

In the top of the fourth with one out, Tori Gardner would hit a shot just over third base to get her on. With two outs, Emily Bach would hit a shot to Clay shortstop Mar? McDonald who could not get a handle on the ball and allowed Gardner to score the second run for the Broncos.

In the top of the fifth, the Blue Devils made a change on the mound and brought in Morgan Crutcher out of left field. She would make a strong statement by striking out the first three batters she faced. She would strike out three more before the night was over.

Finally, in the bottom of the sixth, Clay’s bats came alive. After suffering five strikeouts, and leaving four runners on base, Clay found something. Charlotte DeNapoli drove a ball to Middleburg left fielder Tori Gardner who couldn’t get a handle on it, allowing DeNapoli to land a standup double. Allison Byrd followed up with another base hit, and Clay was in business. Hailey Stone followed up with a hit to right field, scoring one RBI. Right behind her, Sydney Lewis followed suite with a shot to center field that scored the second run.

Going forward, Clay Head Coach Matt Lewis told me what he is working on first. “Adjustments. Adjustments at the plate. We’re a young team but we need to teach them how to make those adjustments. She’s throwing high, low. Inside, outside. How do you make those adjustments? Quit dropping our hands, we’re not hitting the ball out of the park. We need base hits.”

In their last at bat, Middleburg’s Haleigh Wright came to bat with one out and was walked in five pitches. With two outs, Val Perron hit a shot to right field and made her way to second base. With two on, and two out, Sam Whitley hit a shot over the head of Clay center fielder Shanley Miller, scoring two the last two runs.