In Huron/Perth Fastball action, the Norampac Squirt Girls
travelled to Sebringville this week to take on the Stingers. Even though the Squirts were not playing at
the mosquito infested back diamond, there was still many “stings” taking place
on the front diamond, in the form of runs being scored by the opposition.
In the first Kaitie Gratton, Angelina Vanderwal, and Sarah Lynch all drew walks to load the bases. With two outs and Kaitlyn DeBoer at the plate, Gratton stole home on a passed ball to give St Marys a 1 – 0 lead.
The bottom of the inning saw DeBoer take to the mound for her first start of the year and after a lead-off hit batter, DeBoer settled in and was all around the strike zone. However, Sebringville hitters laid off a lot of close pitches and opened a 5 – 1 lead after one inning of play.
In the second, St Marys sent four batters to the plate with Jillian Sterkenburg earning a base-on-ball. Unfortunately, the Squirt hitters were swinging and were missing as three strikeouts ensued to keep the game at 5 – 1. Natalie Johnston came in to pitch the bottom of the second, and after surrendering a lead-off walk, struck out the next two. With a 2 – 1 count, a passed ball provided the Stinger base runner the opportunity to steal third, but catcher Ava Ansley quickly recovered and fired down to Sterkenburg on third who applied the tag for the third out of the inning to maintain the four run deficit.
To start the third, Karissa Waghorn and Nicole Rock both earned walks bringing Johnston to the plate who hit into a fielder’s choice as Waghorn was thrown out on third. Gratton followed with her second walk of the game to load the bases for Ansley. Ansley stepped in and also drew a walk, bringing home Gratton making it a 5 – 2 ball game.
Sebringville came on strong in the bottom of the inning for an additional five runs opening a 10 – 2 lead. As St Marys looked to the fourth, Emma Luyten led off with a walk, subsequently stole second, then third and finally home giving the Squirts their third and final run of the game as the next three batters struck out for the 10 – 3 loss.
Next Action: St Marys hosts Stratford at Teddy’s on June 7 @ 6:30 and Ingersoll on Saturday June 11 @ 10:45 am.