Manchester center fielder Ashleigh Dunn hauls in this fly ball for the final out in the Lady Hounds’ 19-0 sectional title win over Western Latham. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Manchester blows away Western 19-0 in sectional final
Manchester head coach Matthias Applegate gets the ceremonial water bath to celebrate his team’s sectional championship win over Western Latham. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
Manchester base runner Chloe Freeman (5) gets past the Western catcher to score a third inning run as the Lady Hounds moved to the Division IV district tournament with a 19-0 win over Western Latham on May 10 at MHS. (Photo by Mark Carpenter)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
For the fourth consecutive season and the second for head coach Matthias Applegate, one of the names listed on the Southeast District Division IV district tournament brackets will be that of the Manchester Lady Greyhounds. In the midst of a history-making season that sees them with a record of 22-1, the Lady Hounds will be back in the district thanks to a very convincing 19-0 run rule victory in the May 10 sectional title game over the visiting Western Latham Lady Indians.
Coach Applegate’s squad wasted no time in the sectional title game played before their home crowd, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning and then exploding for nine in the bottom of the third to coast into the district semi-finals where they will face the Miller Lady Falcons at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, May 17 at Rio Grande University. In just four at-bats in the sectional final, the Lady Hounds pounded out 17 hits, including a perfect 4 for 4 performance from third baseman Rylie Young plus a 3 for 3 day from Kameyl Carter, while senior Emilee Applegate tossed a five inning two-hit shutout from the center circle.
In that big first inning, the Lady Hounds used a combination of base hits and some shoddy fielding by the Lady Indians to put the five-spot on the board. The home team got RBI’s in the first from Emilee Applegate, Kameyl Carter and the rest came across as a result of Western errors.
Manchester added two more runs to their lead when they came to the plate in the bottom of the second. A double off the center field fence by Young brought home Jenna Campbell and a Carter base hit to right brought Young across to make it 7-0.
After the Lady Indians went scoreless again in their half of the third, the Lady Hounds broke things wide open in the bottom half. A two-base hit by Abby Neria scored Chloe Freeman to get the scoring started and Neria came home when Jaylise Applegate reached on an error. Applegate came across when Young blasted a triple to right center and Young scored on an Emilee Applegate single to make it 11-0.
Catcher Maggie Roberts smoked one right down the third base line that resulted in another three-bagger, this one bringing home two more runs. Roberts came home when Harley Rideout lined a double to the wall in left center and a base hit by Freeman pushed Rideout across. The ninth and final run came when a Neria single scored Freeman to put the home team on top 16-0.
The final three runs for the home team came in the bottom of the fourth. An Emilee Applegate ground out brought the first score home and a Maggie Roberts two-bagger scored another. A Rideout single score Roberts to make it 19-0.
Western’s lead off hitter in the bottom of the seventh reached on an error, but Applegate retired the next three hitters, a pop out, strikeout and fly ball to center fielder Ashleigh Dunn to put the finishing touches on another Lady Hounds’ sectional championship.
The 22nd win of the season for the Lady Hounds advances them back to Rio Grande where they will battle ##10 seeded Miller for the right to move to the district finals, the spot where the Manchester squad was eliminated last season. A win on Wednesday would move the Lady Hounds to the Division IV district championship on Saturday, May 20 at 2 p.m., back at Rio Grande. If they hit the district finals the Manchester girls would face the winner of Symmes Valley-Lucasville Valley. The Lady Hounds knocked off Symmes Valley 3-1 in last season’s district semis before falling to Portsmouth Notre Dame in the finals.
“We’re headed back to Rio and hopefully we are ready to go,” said Coach Applegate. “They’re confident in themselves which is a good thing. We’ve got some things to work on and hopefully we can continue with things the way they’ve been going.”
Western
000 00 —0
Manchester
529 3x —19
Western Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Brewster 3-0-0-0, Penwell 3-0-0-0, Whitley 2-0-1-0, Ferneau 2-0-1-0, Ware 2-0-0-0, May 2-0-0-0, Ison 2-0-0-0, Stone 2-0-0-0, Hutchinson 0-0-0-0, Steele 1-0-0-0, Team 19-0-2-0.
Manchester Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Campbell 4-2-1-0, Young 4-4-4-2, E. Applegate 4-1-1-3, Carter 3-3-3-2, Roberts 4-3-2-3, Rideout 4-1-2-2, Morgan 0-0-0-0, Freeman 4-3-2-1, Neria 3-1-2-2, J. Applegate 3-1-0-1, Team 32-19-17-16.
Extra-Base Hits: Young 2B,3B (2), Roberts 2B, 3B, Rideout 2B, Neria 2B
Western Pitching:
Whitley (L) 3 IP, 14 H, 16 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Ware 1 P, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB
Manchester Pitching:
E. Applegate (W) 5 IP,2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
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