Americans fall in Belles Dixie Softball championship

By Laura Clark

Published: July 9, 2008

The Amherst Americans stayed within one run of Appomattox until the fifth inning, when Appomattox starting finding gaps and stringing together hits.

Appomattox scored 11 runs in the final two innings to defeat the Amherst Americans 13-1 in the Belles Dixie Softball District Tournament on July 1 at Shrader Field in Madison Heights.

Appomattox topped Amherst on June 29 19-1 in five innings, and then had a bye on June 30 while the Americans took Timberlake to eight innings, winning 10-9.

The Timberlake win built Amherst’s hitting confidence, but hurt their pitching depth.

“I burned my ace pitcher (Kelsey Carter) up yesterday to get to this game,” Amherst American coach Ken Coles said. “Eventually, they see her (starter Rhiannon Watts) so much; they picked up on her finally.”

Appomattox squeezed in the first run on Jessica McCormick’s hit in the first inning, and Amherst answered with a tying run when Kim Gilbert’s infield hit scored Hannah Martin on a fielder’s choice.

Megan Campbell’s solo home run in the top of the second put Appomattox up 2-1, and the score was stagnant as both defenses held tight.

Appomattox used three pitchers to Amherst’s Watts. McCormick relieved starter Cyndal Hamlett in the third inning, and Heather Mayberry came in to close in the sixth. The three pitchers combined for six strikeouts.

“That’s basically been our format for the whole tournament, that way every pitcher is available,” Appomattox coach Gus Paulette said. “They all throw well, but from a batter’s standpoint, a new pitcher each time does throw them off a bit.”

The different pitching styles of Hamlett, McCormick and Mayberry had batters making contact, but as the game wore on, Amherst was either hitting a high popup or grounding out. Meanwhile, Appomattox had the stamina to break Amherst’s defense down.

In the fifth, Appomattox picked up two runs with RBIs from Morgan Torrence and Lauren Paulette. Then in the sixth, Appomattox stretched its lead considerably, batting through the entire lineup.

“Amherst made some good plays,” Paulette said. “Every time it seemed like we’d get something going, Amherst shut that momentum down. Then we got some hits in a row that made things happen. When you relax, you swing the bat better.”

With the win, Appomattox will return to the state tournament, representing District 2 for the second year in a row. Ten of Paulette’s current players were on the 2007 All-Star team, which lost in the state championship game.

“Experience just took over,” Coles said of Appomattox. “They’re a hitting team, and they know how to win. (We) made it to the championship game, and that’s all I can ask for. They played hard. It just comes down to experience.”