Silverdale softball coach Jackie Freeland knows that the right time to peak for a high school team is late in the season at tournament time. The Lady Seahawks have done exactly that for the past two springs and have two Division II-Class A state titles to show for it.
She keeps looking for the perfect performance as we approach the post-season this time around, but she hasn’t found it yet. They came pretty darn close on Monday afternoon as they celebrated Senior Day and wrapped up their fourth straight district championship with a 2-0 victory over Boyd Buchanan.
It was quite the battle between region foes, but sophomore Bita Cox was the eventual winner as she went the distance and allowed no runs while giving up three hits, walking two and recording 10 strikeouts. She also benefitted from the two runs her teammates scored as they improved to 21-5-2 overall and 6-0 in district play with the 2-0 victory, which was their sixth straight win.
“I thought we did a lot of things well, but I’m still looking for that game where we put it all together,” Freeland said while chatting just outside the Silverdale dugout following the game.
“I thought we left too many runners on base, but I thought that Bita Cox and Gabbie Hensley did a great job. I was really happy to get that second run, but we did what we had to do to win this game,” Freeland added.
Boyd Buchanan coach Sarah Warren-Bowles knows that her team is getting closer and closer to being championship contenders, but she also knows that at some point, her team will break through with a big performance.
“We were right there, but we just couldn’t get the clutch hit,” she said after her team fell to 15-10 overall and 4-2 in district play with both losses coming against Silverdale.
“We were one hit away. We let too many good pitches go by, but you have to hit good pitches to win a game like this. I’m really proud of these girls as they battled the entire game. There’s no question that we’re headed in the right direction as we all want it, but we just have to keep working if we ever intend to get there,” she nodded.
Cox pretty much dictated the flow of the game from start to finish. The only two baserunners for the Lady Bucs in the first five innings were walks to Kinley Bates in the third and Keyana Jordan in the fourth.
Peyton Pryor got Boyd’s first hit with a little bloop single just past the first-base bag in shallow right to lead off the sixth and Mercedes Smith followed with a perfect bunt single, but Cox then got Cai Cai Butler on a swinging third strike for the first out before Jaliyah Whitaker made the defensive play of the game to get a double play and end that threat.
Ella Meade attempted to bunt, but popped the ball up instead. Whitaker was breaking toward home at full speed and somehow snagged the pop over her left shoulder before firing to Giana D’Amico to double off Smith.
Keyana Jordan reached on an infield single to start the seventh, but that’s where she ended the day as Cox got three straight outs, including a come-backer from Sydney Baker to end the game.
Cox is a 16-year-old sophomore, but pitches with much greater poise and experience. She was all smiles after another win over the Lady Bucs was in the books.
“That was really a tough game, but I felt like I pitched well,” she began.
“This may have been my best game all year, but Gabbie always has my back and she does a great job of keeping me settled down in tough situations. She keeps me focused. I didn’t realize that last ball was the final out as I thought we had one more inning to go,” she smiled.
Emry Masterson and Hensley were the two Silverdale seniors honored before the game started.
It was a special day for them both as Masterson put the Lady Seahawks on the board in the first inning with her first high school home run, a towering shot down the line in left on a 2-2 count with one out. She later had a double off the fence in left-center as she had seven straight hits up to that point. She wasn’t quite as happy after popping to first in her final plate appearance.
“I’ve hit home runs in travel ball, but that was my first one in high school,” the 18-year-old Masterson explained afterward.
“She threw me a couple of outside pitches before the last one inside and I got it. I was just hoping to get on with a base hit and never even saw it clear the fence, so getting a home run was just an added bonus,” she said.
Hensley had a double off the fence in left for her only hit in the fourth, but played her usual outstanding defense as she picked off Kinley Bates in the third after a leadoff walk.
Masterson and D’Amico both had two hits for Silverdale with D’Amico’s second single in the sixth driving in Cox with the second run.
While Cox was the winning pitcher, fellow senior Kinley Ervin was the loser for the Lady Bucs after allowing two runs on those six hits. She also had one walk and seven strikeouts.
Silverdale will be at home again on Tuesday to face Soddy Daisy after that game was rained out on Friday. The Lady Bucs will be at home later in the week for their region opener while the remaining region games will be played in Knoxville.
BOYD BUCHANAN 000 000 0 – 0 3 2
SILVERDALE 100 001 x – 2 6 0
Ervin and Jordan; Cox and Hensley.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)