Lady Saints unable to catch up to Stanhope Elmore
Published 11:28 pm Thursday, March 15, 2018
- Selma’s Arianna Quiala takes her time stepping into the batters box during the 21-1 loss to Stanhope Elmore on Thursday night.
It was a cold night at the Selma Softball Complex on Thursday night, and the Selma High Lady Saints lost 21-1 to the Stanhope Elmore Mustangs.
“This program is building,” Lady Saints head coach Kristy Betts said. “I’m looking for them to be even better by the end of this year. We will get better. We’re working.”
The girls faced a tough pitcher from Stanhope Elmore, whose fastball heated up the strike zone. In the bottom of the first inning, the Saints were already trailing by a large margin, but freshman Jameia Fortune was able to get on base as the leadoff hitter and score the first run of the game for the Lady Saints.
Unfortunately, she was one of the few Lady Saints to reach base safely. The Mustangs racked up 11 strikeouts in the game and didn’t allow another run in the game.
Even though the game was well out of hand, the Lady Saints defense had a few shining moments to hang their hats on. In the top of the fourth inning, centerfielder Mariah Davis hunted down a deep fly ball in right centerfield and nearly collided with her right fielder before she caught the ball at the top of the fence.
A run scored on the play, but her effort to chase down the ball caught everyone’s attention. The runner on second was so surprised that she caught it, that she wasn’t prepared to tag up and advance to third on the play.
“She looked, saw it and got it,” Bettis said. “Ever since she hit her home run against Chilton County, she’s been on it. She’s an awesome player and a true team player.”
In the Lady Saints last chance to extend the game, they didn’t go down with their bats on their shoulders. The first batter walked on a 3-2 count, but the next three batters struck out swinging.
“I want the girls to learn from their mistakes,” Bettis said. “We’re going forward and will try to get Dallas County tomorrow.”
The Lady Saints first win of the season was a 16-15 come from behind walk-off win against Dallas County this past February. They will travel to Plantersville to face the Lady Hornets on their home field and try to steal a win on the road.
