By Nolan Epstein
The Diamond Lady Wildcats (5-3-1) hung right with a loaded Strafford (11-1) squad for three innings of play on Tuesday, but an eight-run fourth for the Lady Indians quickly dashed any hopes of an upset for the road team as Strafford pulled away for an 11-0 victory at home via the mercy rule.
Gifted by a quartet of infield errors, the Lady Indians struck with three runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 3-0 lead, but were shut down over the next two innings by sophomore pitcher Grace Donnel as Diamond saw the proverbial door of opportunity open.
Unfortunately for the Lady Wildcats, that door slammed shut in the fateful bottom of the fourth as head coach Dale Bean’s club sent 13 batters to the plate to create the separation they were searching for.
“I just kept telling our girls to keep grinding, keep going at it, keeping making the plays and they’ll be fine,” Bean said after the game. “Later on, we kept grinding, the wheels started falling off [for Diamond] a little bit and then we stepped on them.”
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Out of those 13 batters in the fourth inning, just four collected hits as a patient Strafford lineup worked walks, earned their way on via hit-by-pitches and let Diamond make more mistakes in the field – a deadly mixture that has continuously worked wonders for the Lady Indians this season.
“Yeah, we have some high scores, but we just try to play fundamentally solid and put the pressure on the other team,” said Bean. “Usually after seven innings, when you keep the pressure on somebody, you’re going to come out on top.”
In the circle, junior Alissa Collette proved to be too much to handle for Diamond – posting five shutout innings of one-hit ball while striking out seven.
Despite her impressive showing which included a stretch where she retired eight straight batters, Collette wasn’t shy in finding areas where she can improve even more.
“My changeup wasn’t too good, but my fastballs were hitting spots,” Collette said. “And my defense was behind me.”
Collette’s near lights-out performance marked the second consecutive shutout for Strafford, following fellow junior Zoey Mullings’ superb start in Monday’s 12-0 victory at Fair Grove. With Ash Grove looming next on the schedule on Thursday, the front end of Strafford’s 1-2 punch will be showcased as Mullings steps back into the spotlight.
“They kind of keep each other on their toes and fresh,” Bean added of Mullings and Collette. “Now, we can go back and play a conference game on Thursday and have Zoey fresh to go. It’s really nice to have two arms that will help carry some of the load.”
Diamond hosts Mount Vernon on Thursday.
