By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

JAY – Sara Fetterhoff wasn’t just a catcher Friday. The Jay backstop was also the Tigers’ stopper.

Fetterhoff tagged out a pair of runners at the plate in the fourth inning to give Jay a 1-0 win over Mt. Abram.

“I’ve only had something like that in summer ball, not really in high school ball, but it was fun,” said Fetterhoff. “I like having plays at home. It’s my favorite.”

With Bree Loon pitching a two-hitter and striking out nine, giving her 200 for the year, the Roadrunners knew scoring chances would be limited.

“We knew it would 2-1 or 1-0 and defensively, we had to be there,” said Mt. Abram coach Jeff Pillsbury. “We had one or two chances, and we just didn’t capitalize.”

Jay (14-1) stymied a rally in the fourth thanks to a double play, which ended with a tag at the plate. Mt. Abram third baseman Sadie White then tried to steal home, but Fetterhoff put a halt to that as well.

“I came back on the field and looked at the shortstop and I was like, That was probably the game right there,'” said White. “In games like this, it’s a real tournament atmosphere. Whichever teams makes the fewest mistakes is going to end up winning, and we just didn’t capitalize.”

Jay had taken a 1-0 lead in the third inning thanks to fine execution and Mt. Abram errors. After Kristen Adams led off with a single, a hit by Kaylie DeMillo was bobbled in the outfield, allowing the runners to advance to second and third with one out. Lindsey McDonald followed with a nice bunt down the first base line to score Adams.

“(White) is staying back at third,” said Jay coach Robin Roberts. “We’ll take the chance that (McDonald) can outrun the ball. We’ll give that out up to get that run.”

Morgan Cummings and Katie Walker had hits in the first two innings, but it was the only offensive output.

In the fourth, Mt. Abram (9-5) had its best chance, when two Jay errors put Cummings and White on base.

“We played big defensively with second and third with no outs,” said Roberts. “We practice those things because we know teams are going to do that. We know it’s boring, and the kids don’t like it.”

The Roadrunners had missed an opportunity to score on a passed ball. So Ashley Dalessandro put down a bunt in front of the plate. Fetterhoff jumped up and threw to first for the out. DeMillo returned the throw to home, where Fetterhoff tagged Cummings out.

“I checked the runner to make sure she wasn’t going to come straight home or I would have just tagged her,” said Fetterhoff. “I threw to first, and I knew it would have to come straight back, because I knew they had to get a run.”

With two outs and White on third, the Roadrunners went for broke.

“After we didn’t get the run on the bunt or the passed ball, we figured it was kind of a do-or-die moment,” said White. “So we went for it. It was close.”

After a pitch and Fetterhoff’s return throw to Loon, White broke for the plate. Loon fired it back quickly, and Fetterhoff got the tag down just as White slid beneath her.

“The next think I know she’s coming at me,” said Fetterhoff. “I was like Bree get me the ball.’ I was able to brace myself and hold onto the ball and get the tag on.”