LIVERMORE FALLS – In order to keep some pressure off of his two freshmen, Livermore Falls coach Brent Hammond rotated Chelsea Morris and Brittany Souther each inning in right field.
The duo patrolled the outfield in their first playoff game with the confidence of veterans, with each making a stellar catch to rob Hall-Dale of a hit in the first two innings. Morris and Souther’s play paved the way for a defensive masterpiece Tuesday in Livermore Falls’ 5-0 triumph over the No. 11 Bulldogs in a Western Class C preliminary-round softball game.
Livermore Falls’ defense, which committed no errors, backed a solid pitching performance by sophomore Whitney McDaniel and the clutch hitting of Taryn Flagg. McDaniel tossed a two-hitter, while Flagg ripped a pair of doubles and drove in two runs.
“That’s the type of game we were looking for,” Hammond said, who admitted the team struggled one day earlier in a scrimmage.
The No. 6 Andies (12-5) couldn’t have scripted a better start. Hall-Dale leadoff hitter Julia Nyitray lined McDaniel’s third offering to right field, but Morris calmly gloved the ball for the first out.
One inning later, Jess Stevens hit a tailing line drive that appeared headed for extra bases before Souther caught it for a harmless out.
Meanwhile, the Andies had grabbed a 2-0 lead by scoring without a hit in the first inning. After consecutive walks to Jenika Kelley and Flagg, Kelley attempted to steal third, but catcher Brittany Ladner’s throw sailed into left field. When the outfielder slipped chasing the ball, both Kelley and Flagg circled the bases.
Hall-Dale’s lone threat came in the third when Lisa Sterling bunted for a single and advanced to third on a sacrifice and a wild pitch. Nyitray followed with a grounder to Flagg at short. Never hesitating, Flagg made a perfect throw to Erica Gats at home to knock down the run.
“It’s one of the plays we practice a lot,” Flagg said. “It’s almost second nature to me. I just throw low to home. We work on it forever.”
McDaniel retired the next 11 batters before Ladner beat out an infield hit with one out in the seventh. The Andies pitcher finished with six strikeouts and one walk.
“Whitney pitched a great game,” Hammond said. “She had a stretch earlier of 8 or 9 games with one walk or less. Then she had a couple of games, I’m not sure if she was tired or what, where she had four walks and a hit batter. That’s five free bases. She overcame that today, and that helped out our defense.”
Livermore Falls added a run in the third when Kelley walked and scored when Flagg drilled a double over the third-base bag. Flagg advanced to third on the throw home, but was left stranded.
Flagg helped seal the game when another double to left scored Kelley with no outs in the sixth. At that time, Flagg was the only player to have a hit against Hall-Dale pitcher Nyitray. But Katie Warren and McDaniel followed with singles to add an insurance run.
Nyitray allowed four hits and struck out eight.
Livermore Falls advances to Thursday’s quarterfinals to face No. 3 Monmouth.
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