by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports
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| Lauren Brummell kept Mills Godwin off-balance mixing her powerful fastball with a wicked changeup. |
Hanover is driving coach Chris Pace batty. In a good way.
His Hawks belted 11 hits, including seven from Courtney Long and Jessie Atkinson,
as Hanover toppled Mills Godwin 9-2 in Tuesday??s Central Region
softball quarterfinals. Hanover, seeded first, advances to Thursday??s
semifinal against Midlothian, a 12-1 victor over Hopewell.
Though
Hanover (22-1) has been the top team in the area all season, the Hawks
came out jittery against the flaming Eagles (14-8). A throwing error by
Atkinson at third base allowed terrific Godwin catcher Hannah Mills to reach second.
Leona Rainey sacrificed Mills to third, then Stacy Snellings belted a Lauren Brummell offering to right field to drive in Mills for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.
Hanover
struck right back, as Brummell and Long singled. Two batters later, the
red-hot Atkinson put a two-RBI single to right field for a 2-1 lead the
Hawks would not relinquish. The senior third baseman finished 4 for 4
(3 singles, double) on the night.
??I was just nervous the first inning,? Atkinson said. ??Then I got up to bat, got a hit, got the two RBI.?
It was just the early part of a Hanover hit parade, as Godwin was stymied by Brummell (nine strikeouts).
Long singled to begin the fifth inning, then advanced to second on Julie Smith??s groundout. Long, who Pace calls his best athlete, stole third and then scored on Mary Claire Stoneburner??s wild pitch for a 3-1 Hanover lead.
It was déjà vu for Hanover two batters later, as Atkinson scored from third on another ball that got by Mills for a 4-1 lead.
Godwin clawed back to 4-2 on a deep double by Stoneburner that drove in Jessie Layton.
??We
gave them a couple early and we got it back to 4-2, then their bats
came alive in the sixth,? Godwin coach Walter Pettus said. ??We had
runners in scoring position several times but we could not come up with
the key hit.
??Brummell pitched a great game. She kept us off-balance in the changeup.?
Brummell
stalled the rally and helped start one for Hanover, drawing an
intentional pass to put runners at first and second with one out.
Good strategy (Godwin wanted the double-play ball to end the inning). Bad execution.
Long
drilled an offering to left-center field for a three-run homer that put
Hanover ahead 7-2. Long, who played shortstop, finished 3 for 4. She??s
played catcher all season after being an all-region centerfielder. Now
Smith has returned to her normal catcher spot after recovering from an
arm injury, so Pace had to move Long once again.
Pace or Long really don??t care, as long as Long??s bat is in the lineup.
??I??ve
never had a top four like this. It??s not fair,? Pace said. ??We??re a
great hitting team. I can??t say enough about No. 4. We??re the best
hitting team in the region and [Jessie] leads us in RBI.? |
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