Sanderson capitalizes on Enloe miscues for softball triumph
Sanderson took advantage of 10 Enloe errors that resulted in eight unearned runs in claiming a 9-5 Cap-8 Conference softball victory on the road Friday afternoon.
The Eagles actually took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single by Breauna Frye scoring Shea Edwards and an unearned run of their own when My-lin Kennedy scored on a throwing error.
However, the Spartans benefited from four errors for a four-run second and four more in a four-run fourth to pull away.
It was the second straight victory for Sanderson, which improved to 2-6 overall and 2-3 in league play.
“It feels really good,” Spartans pitcher Nicole Keane said. “We haven’t been confident when we’ve been playing. I hope this makes us feel like we are good and keep it going.”
Enloe stayed winless at 0-11, 0-5.
In the second, the Spartans got on the scoreboard without the benefit of a hit. Ayanna Carte walked and stole second before going to third when Emma Litra reached on an error at short. Carte scored on a groundout by Samantha McComas.
Keane and Rachel Beavans followed with RBI singles to take the lead for good at 3-2. A pair of errors allowed Beavans to reach third and come home.
The fourth inning saw three singles in a row with one out by Sanderson by Keane, Beavans and Nicole Mitchell. On Mitchell’s hit, a poor throw allowed Keane to score, but eventually led to Beavans being tagged out at third.
Three errors in a row by the Enloe infield plated three more runs to make it 8-2.
“It’s the routine stuff,” Eagles coach Harry Fields said. “We have the ability to make plays, because we have girls with good talent. They just have to do the simple stuff, the fundamental stuff we practice.”
In the sixth, Enloe got some offense. Hailey Ryan singled to right, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on an infield single by Savannah Staten. On the play, Ryan drew a throw home after breaking late and slid safely as the ball was dropped at home plate.
A comebacker to Keane on the mound was thrown away, allowing two runs to score to make it 8-5.
Enloe pitcher Niya Boone hit a warning-track shot to center that nearly cut the lead to one, but was hauled in by Carte. Keane then induced a pop-up to end the threat. Boone took the complete-game loss, striking out one, walking three. She gave up 10 hits and one earned run.
Sanderson added a run in the seventh on and RBI single by McComas.
Keane got the complete-game victory, striking out three and walking four. She allowed five hits and two earned runs. She was also 3 for 5 with two RBIs.
“I liked our fielding very much,” Sanderson head coach Steve Klein said. “That has been a struggle for us. Kind of like we had in the sixth inning, where a mistake leads to another mistake. Today, we repaired the dam and didn’t let the flood waters break. And then come back and get the outs in the seventh inning was really impressive for this group.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2017 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Sanderson capitalizes on Enloe miscues for softball triumph."