Dalton takes advantage of Dade County mistakes in shutout win

Published 8:00 pm Saturday, August 29, 2015

Just by looking at the scoreboard, one might’ve thought Dalton was pounding the ball all over the yard during Saturday afternoon’s game against Dade County. As the Lady Catamounts stepped to bat in the fifth inning they enjoyed a 5-0 lead, but it was far from an offensive outburst. Instead, Dalton took advantage of a few Dade County mistakes and played a bit of smallball to build its edge.

Despite a comfortable lead, Dalton hadn’t produced the big hit that would typically energize the team.

Hailey Jones took care of that.

The junior crushed a pitch to the base of the center field wall that scored two and raised the excitement level of the Lady Cats’ dugout. The energy boost only lasted a few more pitches however. After two wild pitches, Jones slid home to bring an early end to the day in a 8-0 victory.

Jones said she knew she delivered a big hit as soon as the ball hit her bat.

“It felt awesome,” Jones said  “We we’re just kind of dead in the dugout. We were winning but it didn’t really feel like it was a good game going on. It just felt like that was a great way to end it.”

The first five Lady Cat runs came with only one hit touching outfield grass.

Gabby Wright led off the game for Dalton with a bunt, and a Dade County throwing error sent her all the way to third base. She then scored off a fielder’s choice from McCall Maret. Later in the first with the bases loaded, Lauren Parker hit a grounder to third but Alli Swinford raced home to score as the throw pulled Dade County’s catcher off the plate. Jones followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Kianna Adams for a 3-0 lead.

Dalton tacked on two more in the second when Swinford hit a fielder’s choice that scored Blayne Thomason, but another Dade County throwing error allowed Wright to score as well.

“It was definitely smallball and being able to move runners,” Wright said, who has nine hits in Dalton’s last three games. “That helps us score. It’s what helps push us forward.”

“It’s kind of like the games we played that we lost,” Dalton coach Stacy Parker said. “We didn’t hit the ball great but luckily (Dade County) made a few mistakes. They’re a good ball team. Coach (Christine) Engbers does a great job with those girls. It’s kind of like us, when we make mistakes the other team makes us pay for it. I feel like that’s kind of like what happened with us today. They made a few mistakes and we capitalized on them.”

Meanwhile, Swinford was cruising in the circle. Amanda Beinborn led off the game with a base hit for the Wolverines. That would be all the offense Dade County (7-4) could muster of Swinford.

“I came out in the first inning a little rough. I didn’t warm up as good as I should have; I didn’t take the game as seriously as I could have,” Swinford said. “But after I knew that my team had my back, I just knew that no mater what pitch I threw they were always going to catch it. It didn’t matter if I was striking them out or letting them hit the ball, I knew my defense was going to take care of it.”

Swinford threw four innings allowing just the one hit and one walk. She struck out four, including three of the final four batters she faced.

“I had certain pitches that were working well,” Swinford said. “My screwball and my curveball are always my go-to pitches. Those were working pretty good today, and just getting warmed up as the day went by.”

Elly Souther came in and worked the fifth inning, allowing one hit and striking out two.

“Alli and Elly both did a great job and I know what I’m going to get from them,” Parker said. “They’re totally different types of pitchers and it totally throws the other team off when we change them like that. But they both did a great hjohb. Alli’s done a great job all year and we haven’t got her much run support. Today we got her a lot of run support and Elly came in and shut the door.”

Dalton improves to 6-5 and snaps a string of two straight losses. The Lady Cats hope to carry the momentum from Saturday’s win into a pair of region games in the coming week.

“We’ve been coming off a few losses and I think we’re really learning from that,” Jones said. “We’re just realzing that we’re a team full of athletic players and we all can play anywhere and we adjust to everything. Anything that happens, we come back harder and harder. This win leads us into next week and hopefully more wins on the season.”