The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Get a grip
Campers eke out 3-2 win over Trojans
Ellsworth throws out Whetzel at plate to seal the win

By Kevin Spradlin
PhDispatch.com
CRESAPTOWN, March 24 -- Allegany center fielder Bailey Ellsworth picked up the ball, then dropped it, in the top of the second inning as Hampshire's Heather Mathias took advantage of the extra time to earn the double.

With the game on the line with one out in the top of the seventh inning, though, Ellsworth had a chance for redemption. This time, her grip on the ball was perfect. So was her aim.

Ellsworth caught a pop fly off the of the Trojans' Sierra Blomquist - on the run - then fired to catcher Alexi Sivic, who applied the tag to Lyndsay Whetzel. The throw-and-tag completed the double play and finished off Hampshire in a 3-2 win for Allegany.

The play also served as redemption for Sivic, who had dropped the ball on a play at the plate on the previous at-bat. The drop allowed Kierston Davidson to cross the plate safely and pull Hampshire within one run.

"It's definitely a close one," Allegany starting pitcher Audrey Eisentrout said afterward, "but my catcher blocked the plate and she got (Whetzel) out. That's the way you gotta depend on your catcher for that."

The six and one-half innings was primarily a pitcher's duel between Eisentrout and Hampshire's Kasey Patterson. In between, there were a handful of remarkable defensive plays and timely hits from both sides.

In the top of the second, Mathias laced a fly ball to center that Ellsworth grabbed, then dropped, before throwing it back in to keep Mathias at second. With two outs, Stephanie Largent hit a soft liner past third base. Campers left fielder Stephanie Dawson scooped up the ball and took about nine steps - and almost one too many. But Dawson fired to home plate, where Sivic caught the ball - and held onto it - as Mathias slid into home.

In the bottom of the second, Eisentrout worked a walk off her Hampshire counterpart and Hayley Stankan singled to left. Taren Rosenberger executed a sacrifice bunt that moved Eisentrout to third and Stankan to second. Then Sivic hit a soft pop-up to short that was misplayed by Blomquist. The error loaded the bases and set the stage for Chelsea Oseksik's run-scoring single on the next at-bat. Courtney Landis struck out, but an alert Stankan scored from third on a passed ball for a 2-0 Allegany lead.

Eisentrout retired the Hampshire side in order in the top of the third. In the frame, she recorded two of her six strikeouts.

In the bottom of the inning, the Campers went back on the offensive. Estee Hixon led off with a slap single to third base. Dawson grounded out to second base but Hixon advanced to second on the play and moved to third on a fly ball by Eisentrout to left-center. Stankan rapped an RBI double to score Hixon for a 3-0 Campers lead.

It seemed safe enough until the Trojans started creeping back in the top of the fourth. Hampshire catch Logan Sonner hit a groundball single to center. With Kendra Connelly running for Saville, the runner moved to second on a groundout by Karissa Saville. With Connelly on third, Patterson helped her own effort with a flyout to left field that scored Connelly.

The Trojans threatened in their turn at-bat in the fifth inning. Largent rapped a single to right field and just barely beat the throw by Campers right fielder Stankan. With two on and just one out, Eisentrout struck out Blomquist and Largent was caught at third attempting a steal to end the inning.

It seemed the Trojans' momentum was stopped just short - at least until the start of the seventh inning. Eisentrout was still on the mound and she had to overcome not only a young and fiesty Hampshire squad but also a brisk wind as temperatures dipped into the high 30s under a cloudy sky.

Patterson led off with a double to left and moved to third. Eisentrout struck out Mathias but issued a free pass to Whetzel and put the potential tying run on base.

Largent singled to load the bases - the ball went right to Eisentrout in front of the mound and was fielded cleanly. But Rosenberger, the Campers' first baseman, had moved in to field the ball and there was no one on first to receive the throw.

That brought up Jordan Snyder, whose slow dribbler to Eisentrout was gloved, then left on the ground. Eisentrout recovered quickly enough and fired to Sivic at home. Sivic, though, dropped the ball, recovered and spun around to try to tag Davidson. Davidson crossed safely, though, which set up Blomquist's at-bat and subsequent fly ball to Ellsworth in shallow center field.

Allegany improved to 2-0 with the win. Hampshire dropped to 0-3, with early-season losses to Keyser and Washington.

The Campers play their third game of the week on March 25 in Moorefield, W.Va., and again March 28 against Fort Hill at Constitution Park in Cumberland.