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Arell attack: Bauxite pitcher tosses no-hitter |
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
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By Bruce Guthrie Courier Sports It only took 15 batters for freshman pitcher Vanessa Arell to dominate.
She recorded 11 strikeouts and two walks and got the first no-hitter of her young career beating the Moutain Pine Lady Red Devils 11-0 in a five-inning mercy rule game.
Arell got off to a fast start striking out two of her first three hitters.
Arell's teammates took a little bit of time getting going at the plate, but not much. The Lady Miners had a scoring chance in the bottom half of the first inning after a pair of walks and a sacrifice bunt by Alycia Barnard. But with runners at second and third with two out Lady Red Devils' pitcher Sierra Parks struck out Ali Sanders swinging to thwart the threat.
The second inning was a different story for the home team. Jordan Oliver smoked a first-pitch triple down the third base line and scored the game's first run on Brittney Stephens' infield hit.
The big inning came in the bottom of the third for Bauxite. Barnard led off with a double. With one out, Jamie Boshears hit the second double of the inning driving in Barnard. Sanders then delivered a triple driving in Boshears giving the Lady Miners a 3-0 lead. Oliver matched Boshears with her second triple in as many at bats. She scored on a fielders' choice and by the time the third out of the third was recorded, Bauxite had a 5-0 cushion.
The bottom half of the fourth brought more fireworks. Katie Riddling drove in a run and scored when Boshears hit an inside-the-park homerun to center giving the Lady Miners a commanding 8-0 advantage.
Katie Jenkins ended the game in the bottom of the fifth with a bases-loaded triple to end the game.
Oliver had two triples in here three at-bats while Jenkins and Boshears shared honors in leading the club with three RBI's each.
As the Lady Miners' offense was racking up the runs, Arell was mowing down Mountain Pine hitters. She struck out eight of the first nine hitter she faced while striking out the side in three of her five innings of work. And though she walked two in the first four innings, she still faced the minimum number of hitters in her five innings of work. Both runners were erased on the base paths, one on an caught stealing in the first and another as part of a double play in the fourth.
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