GREEN COVE SPRINGS - The Clay High School Lady Blue Devils hosted district 4-6A foe Ponte Vedra Sharks tonight to see who would sit atop 6A Division 4. It took four innings until the Sharks cracked the lid on Clay’s rock solid defense that allowed Ponte Vedra to score an in-the-park home run for the game’s only score. Clay couldn’t answer on offense and would lose the top seat in the district with a 1-0 defeat.

Clay coach Matt Lewis, now 8-5, 6-2, owned up to a bad call on where Blue Devil pitcher Morgan Crutcher was to place the ball. Ponte Vedra improved to 9-4, 4-1.

“It was my pitch call. I screwed up," said Lewis. "I called an inside pitch and I shouldn’t have. Her first at bat, we threw her away and she grounded out like she normally does. I called an inside pitch, Morgan (Clay Pitcher Morgan Crutcher) threw it exactly where I needed her to throw it and that was all on me. After that I gave pitching calls back to Crystal.”

It wasn’t that Clay didn’t have opportunities.

In the first inning, the Blue Devils had Kaitlyn Kumpf all the way to third, and left her stranded.

In the second inning, the Sharks would go three up, three out and Clay would try again, only to leave Hailey Stone stranded at second. In the third inning, once again Clay’s stout defense did their jobs and held the Sharks. At bat, Kaitlyn Kumpf came through to get on first, stole second, made her way to third with two outs and once again, was stranded when Charlotte DeNapoli struck out looking.

At the top of the fourth inning, the Sharks lead-off left handed batter came to the plate.

The Shark’s leftie hit a deep shot into right field, about six feet over Jessica Powell’s head. By time the fielders could dig the ball out of the base of the outfield fence, hit the cutoff and get it to the plate, Ponte Vedra already put the point on the board and took the lead. In the bottom of the fourth, Clay once again came knocking, getting Marianne McDonald into scoring position at second base, only to leave her stranded there with the next two batters unable to push her around.

When asked about the offensive struggles, Lewis said, “The issue being, is in the first five innings, we had a runner on third base, second, second, third base, and second and we can’t get that run across. It’s coming up with that clutch hit when you need it. The pressure’s on, that’s what I have to have. I have to have that pressure kid come up with that at bat and that hit. It just didn’t happen.”

In the closing innings, the best Clay did was get a runner to first base, once again not being able to close the deal.

The silver lining on the evening was the stellar Clay defense. When faced with a bases loaded, one out situation, the Blue Devils never blinked. The pitching performance put in by Morgan Crutcher as well as the quick-thinking fielders were enough for enough for Lewis.

“Great defensive game, great game," said Lewis. "You know we had a couple bobbles here and there but it didn’t cost us because of a solid pitcher on the mound, we played good defense behind her, you get the next girl out, you go from there. Nothing hurt us. The problem was they (The Sharks) didn’t make any errors.”

Clay makes up a rain-out Bartram Trail game Thursday night at home, before heading across town Friday night at 4 pm to take on the Panthers at Ridgeview High.