Hills Softball Association ‘A’ Grade Women (Strathalbyn v USC Bears)

With weather interruptions so far this season, it took until round nine for Strathalbyn to finally face the Bears and they started off with Kim Cutting gaining a walk followed by Emily Eglitis getting on to base, and with great base running and hits to Kathryn Milne and Jarrah Taylor, they were both brought home for two runs with the Bears centre fielder Kate Adamson taking a catch and pitcher/catcher combo of Alix Hitchcock to Courtney Broughton working well together for two K2’s. Bears were up to bat and had hits to Naliah Rigby, Rita Meijer and Hitchcock but they were only able to bring Rigby home. Strath worked hard in the field with catcher Cutting quickly on to the bunt and throwing to Taminka Wilks at first, Taylor taking a catch at shortstop, and pitcher Tessa Norris getting her first K2 for the game.

Strathalbyn came in for the second batting dig and got batters on to base, but Bears Hitchcock was pitching a great game with two K2’s and shortstop Meijer fielding and throwing to second for the out and sending Strath from the diamond with no added score. Bears came in to bat wanting to add to their score and had hits to Broughton and Krystal Sawyer, but they were left stranded with Strath’s Norris pitching a K2, Milne taking a catch at second and Cutting again quickly on to the ball and throwing to first for the third out sending them from the diamond scoreless.

The third batting dig for Strathalbyn gained a walk to Norris but she was left on the diamond with Bears making two outs at first and Adamson taking another catch in the outfield to end the innings without adding to the score. Again Bears were looking to add to their score and had a two base hit to Adamson and a safe hit to Meijer which put Adamson on third base. Strath’s Cutting again quickly got on to the bunt and threw to the safe glove of Wilks at first who quickly threw back to Cutting to tag out Adamson at home for a double play with another K2 to Norris finishing the innings holding the Bears scoreless.

Strath’s Jordarna Wilks gained a walk in the fourth and was moved around the diamond and brought home by safe hits to Cutting and Eglitis, with Cutting being brought home by a hit from Milne with Bears second baser Olivia Rigby taking a catch and a further two K2’s to Hitchcock sending Strath from the diamond with only two runs added. Bears came back out to bat and gained a walk to Broughton and a bunt to O.Rigby but again the runners were left stranded with Strath working hard in the field with Taylor taking another catch, a catch taken by Cutting and Milne making the third out at first ending the innings.

Strath’s T.Wilks had a safe hit and Taylor and Rebekah Mayes gained walks in the fifth but were unable to make it home with an out at second and after great pitching for the whole game Hitchcock was rewarded with another two K2’s to hold Strath scoreless. Bears came in to the fifth batting dig with clear batting intent and had two base hits to Adamson and Meijer but Strath’s pitcher Norris was finishing the game on a high making two outs at first and a K2 to hold them scoreless and end the game. Final scores were Strathalbyn 4 defeating USC Bears 1.