East Chapel Hill softball blanks Chapel Hill Tigers
When East Chapel Hill and Chapel Hill faced each other on the softball diamond on Wednesday, it was battle between two teams in very different positions.
The scoreboard proved that much as the Wildcats won 10-0 against their rival to sweep the season series against Chapel Hill.
The victory is the latest triumph in what’s been a successful year for East coach Joe Simmons’ team and it comes after a bit of a mini-slump in which the Wildcats lost non-conference games to Chatham Central and J.F. Webb.
“It was good to get out and play a rival and I thought our girls responded well,” Simmons said.
Despite having only two upperclassmen, East has succeeded not only in spite of its youthfulness, but because of it in 2016. Wednesday’s game was just another example of that.
Sophomore Katie Agatucci, the Wildcats’ best all-around player, started on the mound and didn’t allow a run while striking out seven batters as she went the distance in the five inning, run-rule shortened game. With the bat in her hand, Agatucci reached base in each of her three plate appearances and scored twice.
On the season, Agatucci leads East with a .440 batting average and has a 2.35 ERA through 59 1/3 innings pitched.
The secret to Agatucci’s success isn’t exactly anything groundbreaking. Rather, most if it is about dedication and experience.
“I pitch everyday, I go to pitching and batting lessons and I’ve been playing since I was little,” she said. “So, it’s just muscle memory now.”
Agatucci isn’t the only underclassmen to stand out for East, though. Amongst others, freshman catcher Violet Kehoe and sophomore shortstop Grace Vincent have also played key roles.
Despite the Wildcats’ inexperience in terms of years played at the high school level, Simmons said his group has performed at a high level because of their work ethic.
“There are a lot of things you could attribute it to, but most of it is just hard work,” Simmons said.
With only four conference games remaining, the Wildcats (9-6, 7-1) find themselves atop the PAC-6 4A standings with a pivotal three-game stretch on the horizon.
East will face Northern Durham, Person and Cardinal Gibbons (the three next-best teams in the PAC-6) from April 26-29 and the results of those games will determine which team wins the conference title, something East has never done.
“We’re just going to play as hard as we can this next week,” Agatucci said.
With the loss, the Tigers (6-10, 2-9) are now winless in their last six games against East dating back to the 2014 season. Despite the result, Chapel Hill coach Emily Boykin was proud of the effort from her team and hopes they can finish the season on a high note.
“I just want us to finish strong,” Boykin said. “I think we have some good games coming up. We play Southern tomorrow and we play Carrboro next week as well as Northern Durham and I think we’re going to get some good results out of those teams.”
This story was originally published April 20, 2016 at 11:40 PM with the headline "East Chapel Hill softball blanks Chapel Hill Tigers."