By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
The farther that a team advances in the postseason, the tougher the competition gets and the margin for error becomes even less. Those lessons hit the North Adams Lady Devils softball squad hard last week and they saw the best season in school history come to a disappointing end.
After disposing of Albany Alexander in the Division V district quarterfinals, the #5 seeded Lady Devils advanced to a May 19 semifinal at Ohio University, matched up with the #8 seeded Southeastern Panthers. On an evening threatened by inclement weather and in a contest hat began an hour later than its scheduled time, the Lady Devils saw things happen on the field that hadn’t happened to them all season, mainly silent bats and uncharacteristic miscues in the field. Though the North Adams squad battled all the way and had their opportunities, they saw their season come to an end as the Panthers advanced with the 4-1 victory.
“I have watched the game several times over and it wasn’t the mistakes that lost the game,” said North Adams head coach Paula Armstrong. “It was our inability to put the ball in play. The game was not the outcome we wanted or expected but it was just not our day.”
“We had our chances but this game does not define us or take away from how amazing each of these girls are and how much fun we had this season.”
It was senior Carlee Garrison on in the center circle to start the game for North Adams and she tossed a scoreless first inning and then saw her offense go down in order in the bottom against the offerings of Southeastern hurler Kylie Williams. The Panthers’ offense got the game’s first run in the top half of the second when Lydia Williams led off with a base hit to left and one out later, moved to second on a single to center off the bat of Ava Cyrus. Mallorie Elam then stepped to the plate and lifted a fly ball that landed just out of the reach of North Adams left fielder Riley Woods, scoring Williams to give Southeastern an early 1-0 advantage.
The Lady Devils didn’t get their first hit of the game until the bottom of the fourth, a two-out single to right by freshman catcher Chloe Armstrong, but she was left stranded when Williams got Marley Whalen swinging.
In the top of the fifth the Panthers added three runs to their lead, all of the unearned variety. Cyrus led off the frame with a single to left and that looked like it might be all as Garrison retired the next two hitters. But disaster then struck for the North Adams side. A little pop up between the mound and first base from Ally Fisher glanced off the glove of Garrison for an error that left runners at first and third. Jade Turner slapped a ground ball to third baseman Paige Evans but Evans’ throw to first was off the mark, allowing two runs to come home for a 3-0 Southeastern lead.Dylan Skaggs followed with an infield hit that scored Turner to make it a four-run lead.
The Lady Devils hadn’t stared up at too may four-run deficits this season and they got one of those runs back in the bottom half of the fifth, but left the inning feeling like it could have been a lot more. After the first two hitters struck out swinging, Williams experienced a bit of a control lapse and walked both Lilly Parker and Ahlyesa Taylor.Marnie Tolle then poked a double down the right field line that scored Parker and moved Taylor to third. Garrison drew a walk to load the bases for three-hole hitter Paige Evans.After fouling off three pitches, Evans hit a ground ball to shortstop and was thrown out at first to end the threat.
Southeastern went scoreless in the top of the sixth and in the bottom half, Armstrong led off by lacing a two-base hit down the left field line. Armstrong moved to third on a ground out by Whalen but was left standing there when both Woods and Wood struck out.
The Panthers threatened in the top of the seventh, getting two base runners, but were unable to score, taking the game to the bottom of the seventh and the Lady Devils’ final chance to keep their season alive, but it wasn’t to be as North Adams went down in order, Lilly Parker popping out to short, Taylor caught looking and Tolle ground to first to end the game, a 4-1 Southeastern victory,
With the defeat, the Lady Devils finished their historic season with a school record 22 wins against just six losses, also winning the big school division of the Southern Hills Athletic Conference for the first time in school history. Add in a team batting average of ,315, 13 home runs for Armstrong along with her ,560 batting average, Garrison hitting .400 and picking up 17 wins as a pitcher, plus four other hitters at .300 or better, and it really was a historic season.
“As far as the season as a whole, simply put, I am so proud of what this team accomplished.” said Coach Armstrong. “Each girls contributed to make this a very special season. We shared a lot of laughs, success, and enjoyed the ride. It was fun!”
The district semifinal loss was the final game of the illustrious high school careers of North Adams seniors Carlee Garrison and Paige Evans.
“Carlee and Paige were our first four-year players,” said Coach Armstrong about her dynamic duo. “It has been a fun ride and we are going to miss them tremendously. Paige is such a versatile player and she was great anywhere we put her. She also has put up some great hitting stats during her career and her value to the team cannot be quantified in stats alone. Paige is always encouraging to her teammates and always had a positive approach. She is the ultimate competitor, inspiring everyone around her in practice and games.”
“Carlee took on the pitching job as a freshman and improved each year. We could not have had a better pitcher to take on the challenge of improving this program. She is made of pure determination and is a true force when she sets her mind to accomplish something it would be hard to find a pitcher anywhere that can make defensive plays like Carlee. She developed into a great leader and mentor to the younger players in our program.”
“When these two girls walked in to their first day of softball as freshmen, they came into a program with no wins and a new head coach,” Coach Armstrong continued. “I’m sure they had their doubts! But they have accomplished so much as individuals over the past four seasons but they have always held team achievement and building a successful program as the highest priority. North Adams softball will be better in the years to come because of their contributions both on the stat sheets and the team culture.”
“We have a young and talented roster coming back and we are looking forward to building on this season and continuing our success next year.”
Southeastern
010 030 0 —4
North Adams
000 010 0 —1
Southeastern Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Brown 4-0-1-0, Fisher 4-1-2-0, Turner 3-1-0-0, Skaggs 3-0-1-1, K. Williams 3-0-0-0, L. Williams 3-1-1-0, Lowry 2-0-0-0, Stewart 1-0-0-0, Cyrus 3-1-2-0, Elam 3-0-1-1, Team 29-4-8-2.
N. Adams Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Tolle 4-0-1-1, Garrison 2-0-0-0, Evans 3-0-0-0, Armstrong 3-0-2-0, Whalen2-0-0-0, Woods 3-0-0-0, wood 3-0-0-0, Parker 2-1-0-0, Taylor 2-0-0-0, Team 24-1-3-1.
Extra-Base Hits: Armstrong 2B, Tolle 2B
Southeastern Pitching
K. Williams (W) 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 9 K
N. Adams Pitching
Garrison (L) 7 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
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