St. Catherine's remains undefeated with softball win

What promised to be a cakewalk — on paper, at least — turned out to be anything but.

The St. Catherine’s softball team, you see, had just defeated three defending state champions by a combined score of 22-5, so the Peninsula Catholic Knights shouldn’t present much of a challenge.

Right?

Well, actually, no.

Sure, the visitors from Newport News weren’t Nansemond-Suffolk Academy (VISAA, Division II), Greenbrier Christian (VISAA, Division III), or Midlothian (VHSL, Class 5), the teams the Saints had vanquished in the last 12 days, but they were formidable enough and gritty enough to give the home team a serious wake-up call.

On a clear, warm, breezy Tuesday afternoon, the Saints prevailed 5-0, but it took them three innings and a trip through the batting order to gain their bearings, take command of the momentum, and string together the hits they needed to extend their record to 5-0-1.

“It was harder (than we expected) from the standpoint of feeling that sense of urgency,” said SC coach Karin Trice. “Our last three games were against super-tough competition. We were on a high. There was a sense of urgency the entire time.

“We knew those players. We knew who they were on the travel ball circuit and in high school. We didn’t know a ton about Peninsula Catholic (3-4), so the sense of urgency was there, we wanted to win, but it wasn’t at the same level as the other games.”

After three-and-a-half scoreless innings, the Saints’ Olivia Tull led off the bottom of the fourth by drilling a triple to the wall in straightaway centerfield, then raced home on an errant throw.

“It (the pitch) was right down the middle,” said Tull, a junior second baseman. “It was easy to see and easy to hit it hard.

“(Pitcher) Keira (Frazier) was doing a really good job pitching, but we weren’t support her hitting-wise. It (her ice-breaking hit) was just getting something going to give her some stability on the mound and let her free up a little bit.”

After the next two batters struck out, Day Vetter reached first when she was hit by a pitch, then stole second, then scored when Armorel Lucas stroked a single to right.

Lucas stole second, then scored when Addie Hinson singled to right center.

Henson proceeded to steal second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored when Paxton Raymond reached first on an infield error.

It was both timely hitting and aggressive base running, then, that enabled the Saints to take a 4-0 lead.

“We wanted to put pressure on the other team and force them to make plays,” said Tull of the Saints’ propensity to take chances, albeit calculated ones, on the bases. “That made them make mistakes (and enabled us) to score runs.”

The Saints were hardly finished.

Frazier led off the fifth by dragging a bunt down the third base line, then sprinting to first as the Knights scrambled to field the ball.

As she touched the bag safely, the throw sailed past the second baseman covering the bag, so Frazier, without breaking stride, raced to second, then third, then home as the visitors chased down the ball near the right field fence.

“As soon as I bunted, my first instinct is to always run and get past first,” said Frazier. “I’m going to take second if it’s wide open because aggressive baserunning is what scores runs.

“My first instinct was to go to second because no one was there. My key initiative was to keep on running. I looked at Coach Trice (coaching third). She said to keep on going, so I kept on going. You don’t stop until she tells you to stop.”

Frazier pitched six innings, allowed just one hit, struck out 11, and walked three. 

Gracie Simmons, who smacked a double down the left field line in the second inning, was the only Peninsula Catholic runner to reach second base.

“My rise ball was definitely working today,” said Frazier, a sophomore righthander. “I came out a little wild with my fastball, but I dialed it back in, and I started throwing more strikes, especially with my rise ball.” 

Frazier threw 86 pitches, 53 for strikes. 

“I trust my defense,” she said. “Honestly, it’s what works that day. Sometimes, you get a lot of strikeouts. Sometimes, it’s a day when your defense does a lot of work.”

Senior righthander Jenna Keefer faced three batters, struck out two, and forced an infield pop-up in an inning of relief.

The Saints are the two-time defending League of Independent Schools champion. Last May, they fell 1-0 to Northern Virginia juggernaut Bishop O’Connell in the VISAA, Division I title game.

Their scheduling is by design.

“We definitely want to play the toughest competition,” said Trice. “Would I schedule them (the three state champs) back to back to back? Probably not, but you find out when you can play teams and go with that.

“We want to play hard teams mixed into our schedule to get ready for the postseason, for sure.”