BEA makes short work of Tyrone
By LAUREN PACKER — For The ExpressMILESBURG — Bald Eagle Area wasted little time scoring in its home season-opener, plating 13 runs in the first frame en route to a 15-0 victory over Tyrone in a contest shortened by the mercy rule.
The Lady Eagles collected just four hits in the decision but showed discipline at the plate, drawing nine walks from Tyrone starter Annie Miller. The squad also took advantage of three batters hit by pitch and four errors by the visiting squad.
“It’s kind of tough in a game like this when we got out ahead as much as we did,” BEA head coach Dave Breon said. “It took away a lot of the things I would have liked to have tried, like bunting and those sorts of things. When you get up like that, you tend to pull back a little bit.”
Still, the Lady Eagles lineup did show some flash at the plate with Kasey Corl’s three-run triple to right field and Janelle Poorman’s two-run double to left-center that ended the game. Corl led BEA with four RBI while Poorman finished with three. Meghan Granite and Cortney Switzer each accounted for a single and two RBI.
“I just wanted to see the kids make good contact,” Breon said. “We watched her warm up and we saw she wasn’t overpowering, so we knew we were going to have to be a little more patient at the plate, sit back and wait on it. There’s just not a whole lot we can do when a pitcher is walking people, her defense isn’t helping her out and she’s hitting people.”
BEA got the offense started when cleanup batter Granite drove in two runs with her sharp single to right field that scored Taylor Parsons and Lily Glunt, who reached on a walk and error, respectively. The Lady Eagles next six batters reached on either a walk, an error or were hit by pitch, accounting for five runs and a 7-0 lead with just one out. Switzer’s single plated two more runs before the Lady Eagles loaded the bases with two outs. Corl then delivered the knockout with a towering fly ball that lingered deep toward the right-field wall, clearing the bases with her triple.
BEA added two more in the bottom of the third with Poorman’s shot to left-center for the game’s final score.
Defensively, the Lady Eagles again displayed their trademark defense and were led by Elizabeth Hackett in the circle. The senior hurler did not allow a runner to reach first base in any of the three innings and struck out seven of a possible nine batters, with only two of her strikeout victims going down swinging. Tyrone’s Lindsay Christine and Kassie Gardner were the only ones to get the bat on the ball, as both hit soft grounders to the right side of the infield that were easily handled by second baseman Parsons and first baseman Kelly Chambers.
The Lady Eagles will next play at Central on Thursday.
Mountain League Softball
BALD EAGLE AREA 15, TYRONE 0
T 000 — 0 0 4
B (13)02 — 15 4 0
Records: Tyrone (0-1), BEA (1-0). Batteries: Tyrone (Annie Miller (0-1) and Lindsay Christine), BEA (Elizabeth Hackett (1-0) and Meghan Granite). Extra Base Hits: 3B – BEA, Corl, 2B – BEA, Poorman. Stolen Bases: BEA, Granite (1). HPB: Glunt (1), Margaret Rougeux (1), Switzer (1)
