The winning continues for the Silverdale Lady Seahawk softball team.
Winning their 40th game of the season against just three losses, the Lady Seahawks won their 27th straight game by a 4-0 final as freshman pitcher Bita Cox pitched a complete-game shutout where she allowed five hits and no walks while striking out 14 Cleveland batters.
Senior southpaw Ella Cunningham has been an outstanding pitcher as well for Silverdale, but let it be known that their 15-year-old ninth grader is pretty darn good as well.
“I thought that Bita Cox pitched a great game and kept a good Cleveland team from scoring, but we just have to be able to put more hits together as we strive to win every inning,” said Silverdale head coach Jackie Freeland following the game.
“Gabbie Hensley had the big two-out double in the third, but we had a tough time getting anything going, so this was not our best outing by a long shot. But a win is a win and we’ll take it, but we’re a better team than we showed tonight,” she added.
Cox was all smiles after her day’s work had ended.
“I feel like I’ve pitched better games this season, but the best part is that we didn’t get too down on ourselves when we didn’t score,” she nodded.
Cleveland coach K.J. Harris knows that playing teams like Silverdale will only make her team better. Thursday’s game was their fourth against the Lady Seahawks and much closer and more competitive than the first three.
“Silverdale is really good as they completely challenged us at the plate. I’m happy that we battled the entire game and I feel like we’re ready for the post-season, but we gave up those four runs with two outs and that hurt,” Harris added.
Landri Nelson singled with one out in the first inning, but was erased on a double play when she was caught off base following an infield pop and that was the only base runner Cleveland had in the first three innings.
Nelson later had a double down the line in left with one out in the fourth before adding a single with two outs in the fifth. Lilly Mason had Cleveland’s other two hits with singles in the fifth and seventh, but no Lady Raider got past second as Cox was in complete control the entire game.
Meanwhile, Silverdale finally broke through and scored all four runs in the third inning.
Jaliyah Whitaker grounded to short for the first out before Emry Masterson reached on an infield single. She was safe at second when Kennedy Stinson reached on a fielder’s choice. Cunningham then walked to load the bases.
Braylee Raby flied to right to drive in Masterson with the first run. Cox singled to reload the bases while Stinson scored the second on a double steal as Cox raced to second. Then on a 3-1 count, Gabbie Hensley ripped a two-run double to the gap in left-center to plate the final runs.
While Cox limited Cleveland to those five hits, Lady Blue Raider senior Ashley Allen also pitched well as she only allowed seven hits and three walks while striking out seven.
The Lady Seahawks stranded seven runners in the first six innings, but those four runs in the third were more than enough for Cox.
While Nelson had three hits and Mason two for Cleveland, Masterson was the only Silverdale player with two.
Silverdale has two more home games to conclude their regular season, including a game with Gibbs on Friday before the big showdown with Baylor on Monday, matching a couple of teams who both won state titles last spring.
The Lady Seahawks beat Baylor 1-0 a couple of weeks ago in the Gibbs tournament, so Monday’s game should be another close and intense battle between two of the best teams in the state.
Silverdale improves to 40-3 overall while Cleveland is now 18-13.
CLEVELAND 000 000 0 – 0 5 0
SILVERDALE 004 000 x – 4 7 0
Allen and Mason; Cox and Hensley.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)