WALES — Oak Hill coach Allyson Collins knew getting ahead of the game is the only way to contend with a stubborn team like Spruce Mountain in Monday’s Mountain Valley Conference softball game.

The Raiders (2-0) hammered out 17 hits, including two triples and four doubles to shelve the feisty Phoenix (1-1) for a 16-4 victory in a five-inning slugfest the cut short after the 10-run rule was implemented.

“We hit the ball really well so I was very happy offensively,” Collins said. “I was happy to see it, especially the second game out.

“We have had only one other game this season and so we hadn’t seen a lot of pitching, I was happy with that. Defensively, we had one breakdown inning. Luckily we were able to come back from that and get those runs back, and so it didn’t hurt us.”

After the first three innings, the Raiders were well on their way to their second victory of the season with a 10-0 lead. 

Winning pitcher Sadie Waterman also had a lot to do with Oak Hill’s success. She set down the Spruce Mountain side in order for the first three innings before Molly Flaherty came on in relief. 

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But when the Phoenix got out of hand and scored three runs thanks to three Raider errors and an RBI triple by outfielder Calley Baker, Waterman got back on the mound to get  the final two outs in a wild fifth inning.

“As always, they are team that is a force that you have to watch out for,” Collins said. “Any time they can show you they can come back and sneak up on you and they can take over the game.

“You can’t get back on your heels at any point in the game because if you do, there is a good chance they are going to come back and attack,” she said. “They are a team you cannot take for granted and you have to be ready and you have to stay ahead.” 

Oak Hill outfielder Mahala Smith and Waterman helped the team’s output at the plate, with both of them doubling once, singling twice and each driving in two runs. Smith also scored four runs. Mikayla Buckmore, who came in to pinch hit in the fourth and fifth innings, doubled, tripled and collected an RBI along the way. Teammate Miranda Kramer had a pair of singles and drove in a run. 

When things got rough for Spruce Mountain, the Phoenix called in Adelle Foss to relieve starting pitcher Hannah Turcotte in the third inning with one out and Foss went the rest of the way.

“I thought Hannah Turcotte was throwing OK. They like that power pitching,” Spruce Mountain coach Clint Brooks said. “Hannah is still working on perfecting her change-up. It is an ongoing project for her going forward. I wanted to take a look at Adelle today. Adelle is a totally different style of pitcher.”

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The Phoenix got their first run when Baker got on with an error at shortstop and eventually scored with the help of Emily Castonguay’s single. Those were Spruce Mountain’s only two hits of the game.

“I told the kids I looked at the scorebook last year,” Brooks said. “We played them twice and we scored two runs between the two games. So you look for something positive to pull from a game like this. It is hard when you get mercies. I thought once we got into the game, the third and fourth inning, we started to put the bat on the ball.

“I told them, ‘They will make mistakes just like we do, but you have to make them do those types of things,’” Brooks said.

Tony Blasi — 207-689-2830

tblasi@sunjournal.com

Twitter: @Goodfellows52


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