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Ragin' Bulls come up short in third round

Paul Hershey

Sports Correspondent

Published: May 26, 2009

HARRISBURG — Both Hickory Ridge and Eastern Randolph had shut out each of their first two playoff opponents.
So when the two teams met on Tuesday, the third-round 3A matchup figured to come down to who managed to get on the scoreboard first.
That proved true, and unfortunately for the Ragin' Bulls, it was Eastern Randolph who scratched across a pair of runs in the sixth inning to post a 2-0 win.
The Wildcats moved on to the state quarterfinals, while Hickory Ridge's season ended at 17-7.
"That's how softball goes sometimes, especially when two good teams play each other, Hickory Ridge coach Kelly Allen said. "It's whoever gets the first break, and it just wasn't us this time."
Eastern Randolph sophomore pitcher Dallas Heaton won the pitcher's duel with Hickory Ridge's Emma Stevenson.
Heaton scattered three hits, struck out 11 and walked one, notching her third straight playoff shutout.
"She's pitched some big games for us and come through most of the time," Eastern Randolph coach Randall Myers said. "She's been in pressure packed games and we knew this one would be one too."
Stevenson allowed eight hits, struck out seven and walked none. She pitched out of jams in four of the first five innings, before Eastern Randolph broke through in the sixth.
Jana Clark led the inning off with a single, her third hit of the game. Stevenson got a popout off a bunt, but then hit the next batter to put runners on first and second.
A 10-pitch battle against Heaton followed, with the Wildcats' hurler finally drawing a walk. On the final pitch with the 3-2 count, Hickory Ridge catcher Kimberly Newton threw to third base and the ball ended up in shallow left field, allowing Clark to score the huge first run.
"(Newton) wasn't sure if the umpire called it a ball or a strike so she threw it just in case," Allen said.
"It was overall just a frustrating inning."
Two batters later, an RBI single to right by Rachel Burgess made it 2-0, giving Eastern Randolph an insurance run — although it wouldn't need it.
The Ragin' Bulls did start to draw a beat on Heaton later in the game and got a runner to second four different times, but weren't able to get the key hit to score.
In the fourth, Jessica Pressley reached on an error and, two batters later, Meagan Badame singled to left for the team's first hit, but Heaton followed with an inning-ending strikeout.
Before Badame's single, the Ragin' Bulls had missed a chance to move Pressley to second when a bunt attempt turned into a popout.
"There's a lot of things that come into play," Allen said. "If we would've gotten the sac bunt down when Meagan hit that ball we would've had a girl on second and we could've had a possibility to score. And if had scored first, it could change the momentum of the game drastically."
Ally Yeager hit a two-out single in the fifth and stole second when Eastern Randolph failed to cover the base, but another strikeout by Heaton ended that threat.
Hickory Ridge's final chance — and the game — ended with Heaton's 11th strikeout after Hannah Bright had singled with one out and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.
"She's a good pitcher," Allen said of Heaton. "She threw the ball hard.
"We've talked to the girls about making adjustments at different times throughout the year and so a lot of them changed some things and I think that's why we were able to hit her better towards the end of the game."
Stevenson stranded four runners in the first two innings to keep the game scoreless. Newton also threw to runners out trying to steal second, the latter on a nice play by Pressley, who reached to catch a slightly wide throw and apply the tag in one motion.
Eastern Randolph (24-4) will face either conference rival Southwestern Randolph or Glenn on Friday for a spot in the final four.
"We knew it was going to be a battle to the end or extra innings," Myers said.
"One run would've won the game and it could've been either way. They've got a good ballteam."
Stevenson, Badame, Courtney Powell and Carson Andreotti are the Ragin' Bulls four seniors.
"For us to start off where we were, not playing very consistently, and then win the conference says a lot about our team," Allen said. "We've made a lot of changes throughout the year, but they've really grown as players and as a team.
"We've had some freshmen come in this year and do a great job for us and they're only going to get better. They can say as a freshman we made it to the third round so next year they'll know what it's like to play in these big games."