McKamey Bratcher of GPS swings to make contact with a pitch. Bratcher, along with Ansley Blevins, had three hits to help lead the Bruisers to a 6-0 win over Cleveland Monday afternoon at T.A Lupton Field.
photo by Dennis Norwood
It’s been an interesting and at times frustrating softball season for the GPS Bruisers as they are still trying to create a positive identity for themselves while trying to adjust on the fly to a team that is less experienced than in years past.
Several key returning players transferred to other schools while others have battled injuries. So as you can imagine, it’s been a trying time for the girls in blue and new head coach Martha Hanzelik.
They might have turned a corner on Monday in a 6-0 victory over Cleveland at T.A. Lupton Field.
“That was a good game and a great win for our team,” said Hanzelik following the game where the Bruisers evened their record at 9-9 with the shutout.
“We still have to clean up some base-running mistakes, but we were able to put the bat on the ball today and score some runs in support of Mikayla Beard. Mikayla didn’t pitch her best game of the year today, but she found a way to battle through it and get a good win for us,” the energetic coach added.
Both teams left a ton of runners on base – nine on each side – but the Bruisers finally put together a productive at-bat in the third inning where they batted around and scored five runs on the strength of six hits.
They added another run in the fifth, but had the bases loaded with nobody out and couldn’t add to the already-significant lead.
In the third, Chapel Cunningham and Maddie Hubbard got things started with back-to-back singles. A double by Ansley Blevins drove in Cunningham with the first run while a one-out single by Bella Jenkins sent Hubbard across the plate with the second run.
McKamey Bratcher and Jozlyn Layne had run-producing hits while Ansley Griffin drove in the other with a fielder’s choice.
Bratcher, one of two GPS players with three hits on the day, led off the fifth with a bunt single and advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches. Griffin walked and Layne reached on an infield hit to load the bases before Emma Leinberger ripped the first pitch into left center to send home Bratcher with the sixth run.
Cleveland’s Madison Long, who had entered the game at the start of the inning to replace Lily O’Bryan, then retired Cunningham, Hubbard and Blevins in order to avoid any further damage.
The Lady Blue Raiders stranded eight runners in the first four innings as they couldn’t hit the ocean from the end of the pier at the plate with opportunities to score.
A walk to Kayla Davenport to lead off the game and a one-out single by catcher Keaton Wheeler produced nothing as Beard escaped with a pop to second and a strikeout.
O’Bryan led off the second with a single, but again, the Cleveland bats couldn’t come through.
Then in the third, Riine Senn and Wheeler had one-out singles and Ashley Allen reached on a GPS throwing error, but Beard got the third out on a pop to herself to keep the game scoreless.
A walk to O’Bryan and a single by Emma Miles put two on before Davenport got hit by a pitch, but Beard escaped again as she ended the inning with one of her four strikeouts.
Wheeler doubled with two outs in the seventh for her third hit of the game, but the game ended when Beard coaxed Allen into a come-backer for the final out.
Cleveland coach K.J. Harris could only shake her head when the game ended concerning the runners left on base and her team’s inability to get the clutch hit.
“These girls know how to hit, but that’s been our Achilles heel in the last few games,” she began after a post-game talk with her team.
“We put runners on base, but just can’t seem to come through at the right time. But we just have to keep fighting and to keep swinging as that’s the only way to get out of a hitting slump,” she nodded.
Beard was the winning pitcher after scattering six hits while walking two and hitting two more. She also had four strikeouts.
Wheeler had Cleveland’s big bat with three hits. She got hit by a pitch in her other plate appearance.
O’Bryan was the losing pitcher after giving up five runs on nine hits in four innings. She had five strikeouts and two walks while hitting one. Long allowed the sixth run after giving up four hits in two innings with one walk.
Blevins and Bratcher both had three hits for GPS as the Bruisers collected 13 on the day. Layne and Cunningham had two each with Layne driving in a run with a bunt single that turned into a double when there was nobody to cover first or second base in the third inning.
GPS, evening its record at 9-9, travels to Soddy Daisy on Wednesday for its next game while Cleveland is now 8-18 and will host Ooltewah on Tuesday.
CLEVELAND 000 000 0 – 0 6 0
GPS 005 010 x – 6 13 2
O’Bryan, Long (5) and Wheeler; Beard and Blevins.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)