District V Tournament: HYR off and running

BY GREG MENGELT
sports@newsandtribune.com

June 29, 2009 11:38 pm

— CLARKSVILLE — Highlander Youth Recreation’s 11-12 softball All-Stars opened District V play with an easy 16-0 win over Clarksville on Monday.
HYR scored two runs in the first inning and three in the third, then exploded for 12 in the fourth to put the game away.
The Highlanders scored 11 of their 12 runs after the second out of the frame, benefiting from eight walks and three errors.
HYR coach Doug Comingore credited his team’s patience for the big inning.
“The biggest thing was having a good eye,” he said. “They threw a lot of balls. If we give them strikes (by swinging at bad pitches), maybe it doesn’t turn out this way.”
The big blow of the inning came off of the bat of Ruthanna Fritzinger. Up 9-0, Fritzinger gave HYR the 10-run advantage it needed to shorten the game with a three-run double. She scored one pitch later when Katelin Dreher singled her home for a 13-0 lead.
The top four hitters in the HYR lineup — Emma Bellus, Jena Fath, Fritzinger and Dreher — scored nine of the team’s runs and had eight of its RBIs. Bellus had a single and two walks and scored three times. Fath drew four walks and scored all four times. Fritzinger scored twice with four RBIs and Dreher had a single and an RBI.
“The top four (in our lineup) can really pound the ball,” said Comingore, who said it is the best lineup he has had in three years of coaching HYR in district play.
Up just 2-0 after two innings, HYR got a boost from Taylor Osborne, who came off of the bench and led off the third inning with a double, the first extra-base hit of the game. She eventually scored, leading to a two-run inning.
“To be honest, really all of our girls could start,” Comingore said. “When (the substitutes) come in, we expect the same things from them that we expect out of our starters. There really aren’t any subs. We’re counting on them, just like we’re counting on everyone else.”
HYR pitcher Caroline Cato took care of the Clarksville batters, allowing just one hit — to Brooke Lucas, Clarksville’s first batter of the game. She struck out nine batters in four innings.
“She’s great,” Comingore said. “She can mix up her pitches. At 12 years old, when you can mix up your pitches, you’re a tough one to hit. All of the girls feel real comfortable behind her when she’s in the circle.”

11-12 baseball
Jeffersonville/GRC’s defending Great Lakes Region champion 11-12 baseball team got off to a stellar start in District V play with a 16-1 win over Charlestown on Monday.
Looking to equal the feat of last year’s team that played in the Little League World Series, Jeff/GRC couldn’t have asked for a better start with 12 hits, five being for extra bases, while surrendering just one run on one hit among three pitchers in the four-inning victory.
While the roster has changed completely from last year’s history-making team, Jeff coach Scott Fertig said that feat has raised expectation levels in town.
“At this age, we’ve never won the district, so there’s no pressure,” Fertig said. “But we have high aspirations. We want to try to one-up (last year’s team), but we know that’s a mighty tall order.”
Jeff/GRC left little doubt from the start that it would have another team to be reckoned with, scoring three times in the top of the first inning.
The big blow came off the bat of Jeff/GRC’s Casey Jackson, a two-run homer. Teammate Jared Burke led off the game with a single and — after two outs were recorded — scored on a single by Holcomb.
“We were the visitors and we wanted to put pressure on them from the start,” Fertig said.
In the next inning, it was Holcomb who hit a three-run shot after Burke had singled and Zach Ramirez doubled.
Jeff then broke the game open with a seven-run third inning in which the first seven batters of the inning reached base.
For the game, eight different Jeff/GRC players had a hit and 10 of the 11 reached base.
“It was good to get everyone off to a good start,” Fertig said. “I think the bottom half of our order — compared to the rest of the teams (in the District V tournament) — is a real strength for us.”
Another strength will be pitching depth.
Jeff/GRC starting pitcher Harrison Dale pitched perfect first and second innings, while Burke capped the game with a perfect fourth. Holcomb gave up Charlestown’s only run and hit, but he struck out the side in the third.
“We’re grooming eight boys to pitch,” Fertig said, “and we’re counting on all of them. We have a lot of games in succession toward the end of the tournament, so we’re going to have to use all of our pitchers.”

Stars of the Night
Caroline Cato, HYR 11-12 softball: In a 16-0 win over Clarksville, the HYR hurler struck out nine batters while retiring 12 straight batters to finish the game.
Ruthanna Fritzinger, HYR 11-12 softball: The HYR third baseman went 2-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and a run scored.
Brooke Lucas, Clarksville 11-12 softball: Lucas had an infield single to open the bottom of the first inning for Clarksville. It was her team’s only hit in a 16-0 loss.
Zach Worrall, New Albany 13-14 baseball: Worrall went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI as New Albany opened tournament play with a 12-6 win over Jeff/GRC.
Logan Striegel, New Albany 13-14 baseball: Striegel went 3-for-4 in New Albany’s 12-6 win over Jeff/GRC. He had a two-run inside-the-park home run, a leadoff triple in the fourth inning and scored three times.
Hunter Holcomb, Jeff/GRC 11-12 baseball: Holcomb went 3-for-4 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs scored in Jeff/GRC’s 16-1 victory over Charlestown to open District V play.
Casey Jackson, Jeff/GRC 11-12 baseball: Jackson hit the first home run of his life in Jeff/GRC’s 16-1 win over Charlestown. He had an RBI infield single later in the game.
Dylan Taylor, Charlestown 11-12 baseball: Taylor had Charlestown’s only hit and scored its lone run in a 16-1 loss to Jeff/GRC.

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