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Stevenson, Bulls impressive again

By Steve Winzenread | Independent Tribune

Published: May 23, 2009

HARRISBURG — As Hickory Ridge was shutting out another softball playoff foe Friday, it might make an onlooker wonder: How did this team lose six games?
"We had a rocky start early in the season, really trying to get our team chemistry together," said Ragin' Bulls head coach Kelly Allen. "We have a lot of young players playing. I mean, we had most people come back from last year, but I found out a lot of people were like, oh yeah, we should go undefeated. But it was a lot different. We had a lot of freshmen in the field. We had a lot of good freshmen come in, it kind of mixes things up.
"I think at the beginning of the year it was hard for us to get going, and now we're starting to peak. I'm really proud of them because they've really come together as a team."
The Bulls beat Southwest Guilford 2-0 in the NCHSAA 3A second round and will either play at East Rowan or host Eastern Randolph in round three on Tuesday.
Senior Emma Stevenson struck out 17 for the second game in row. She added 4 2/3 perfect innings to the perfect game she threw Tuesday. Only a dropped pop-up ended the streak.
Stevenson then wound up with a two-hitter. Southwest managed an infield hit in the sixth inning and another in the seventh.
"It's awesome," Allen said of Stevenson's pitching. "It's amazing."
Hickory Ridge (17-6) scored both of its runs in the third inning.
With one out, Ally Yeager lined a single to centerfield to start the rally.
"Ally always works hard," Allen said. "Very consistent. She just brings a little extra spark. When she gets a hit, it really gets the other girls going."
Stevenson followed with a perfectly placed bunt that made it to the second baseman. By the time the ball was fielded, there was no play and Stevenson had a single.
The next batter, Courtney Powell, bunted to the pitcher, who threw wildly to third, trying to get a forceout. Both runs scored on the error.
The scariest moment for the Bulls was when Stevenson led off the bottom of the first inning and ran into the first baseman, who had a considerable size advantage on the Bulls pitcher.
It was a full-on collision and Stevenson, who was out on the play, stood motionless on the first-base line for a few moments. Then she headed to the dugout.
"I think she was just surprised," Allen. "I really wasn't that concerned. Emma's really a tough girl, so I was like, she'll be all right. Even if she's hurting a little bit, knowing her, she does not ever want to be out of a game."
Then in the bottom of the sixth, Jessica Pressley was hit by a line drive while occupying third base.
"I think they were all like, 'Don't you rub it,'" Allen said. "You can rub it in the dugout. But don't worry about it, it'll be OK. If you start thinking about how bad it hurts, it will hurt worse."
No pain, no gain? So far, almost all of the hurt has been happening to Bulls' opponents.
"We finally got our team chemistry kind of down," Allen said. "Emma's really pitching well. We're hitting a lot better. Just a lot of the things we've worked on throughout the season are finally starting to come together, which is good."