Deep Run softball shuts out Freeman

The scenario was perfect.

Runners in scoring position. The locked-in-and-ready-to-rock heart of the batting order coming to the plate.

That was the scenario presented itself in consecutive innings for the Deep Run Wildcats on Friday, they rose exquisitely to the moment each time, and, as early evening shadows shrouded their home diamond, they laid claim to an 11-0 softball victory over the visiting Douglas Freeman Mavericks.

“We respect the 60,” said DR coach Tabby Dabney, referencing the number of feet between bases. “That means if I get hit by a pitch, I get 60 feet. If I steal a bag, I get 60 feet. The bottom of our lineup has been really gritty in just finding ways to get on base.

“Everybody holds each other to a really high standard start to finish. Not just one person. All 15 of them. Everybody has a role on this team. They know their role, and they play to that role.”

The Wildcats (8-1) scored a run in the first inning, five in the second, and five more in the third.

Brooke Black led off the bottom of the first by reaching base on an error, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on Braelyn Baulsir’s single, then scored on Ella Pawlewicz’s single to center.

The tsunami hit in the second.

Kate Everhart, the No. 7 hitter, led off with a double to left, Lindsey Cassell followed with a hit-'em-where-they-ain't infield single, and Mary Manning walked to load the bases.

Black’s sacrifice fly to deep right scored Everhart. Emily Plank followed by drawing a walk, and Pawlewicz then drilled a stinger of a single off the shortstop’s glove that caromed into foul territory and scored both Cassell and Manning.

Next up was Hope Tate, the starting pitcher, who aided her cause by stroking a single to right that sent Plank and Pawlewicz home.

“Our plan was not to get in our heads,” said Pawlewicz, a senior first baseman. “Softball is such a mental sport. If we come in here way too cocky or if we’re too much in our heads, we’re not going to hit well. 

“So coming in, it’s really staying calm and not playing for yourself but for your teammates. What’s the best thing for the team? What’s the best for the outcome of the game? That’s our plan. It was pretty successful tonight.”

Try as they might, the Mavericks (3-7) could not find an antidote for the Wildcats’ scrappiness or their bats.

Manning led off the third with a single to left. Walks to Black and Plank loaded the bases. A walk to Baulsir sent Manning home.

Then, Pawlewicz stroked a single to right to score Black and Plank and increase her RBI total to five.

Baulsir scored on an infield error, and Pawlewicz scored the Wildcats’ final run on an infield out.

“I was seeing the ball really well,” Pawlewicz said. “I’m not good at taking pitches. I swing at a lot of pitches because I’m big on contact hitting, not home runs, just knowing what the team needs at that time. That’s what I was trying to do today.”

Tate, a senior righthander and Virginia State signee, faced just 10 batters in her three innings in the circle, struck out five, and allowed one hit and no walks. She threw 40 pitches, 26 for strikes.

“My fastball was the main pitch working,” Tate said. “The change-up was working, but sometimes it wouldn’t land, but that was OK because change-up is mainly a chaser pitch for me.

“My curve was working really well too.  I had them chasing outside the zone.”

Plank relieved her for the final two innings and held the Mavericks at bay. Baulsir’s unassisted double play at shortstop ended a fourth-inning threat, and the senior righthander who started in centerfield retired the side in the fifth to bring the game to conclusion.

The Wildcat defense played errorless ball behind both Tate and Plank.

“The backup was great,” Tate said. “I completely trust my teammates in the field. They do their jobs well. I know their talent, and their support and cheering encourage me to do better and better.”

The Freeman game was Deep Run’s third in four days. They defeated a tough Atlee squad 2-0 on Tuesday and dropped a 9-1 decision to undefeated Patrick Henry the next night.

Following the loss, the Wildcats needed a reset.

“Honestly, yesterday we had a team bonding practice to keep our chemistry good and keep our minds good,” Pawlewicz said of Thursday’s workout. “We did some yoga. We all iced and let our bodies recover. We hit and really made ourselves feel good about today so we’d be prepared.

“We didn’t let (the loss) get to us. It really didn’t reflect who we are as a team.”