It was a battle of two undefeated teams Wednesday as the Spartans fastpitch team took on Holy Names, but the way the Spartans played, it certainly seemed one-sided.
“It was stellar. All-around, it was awesome,” said Bainbridge High pitcher Katie Raben.
The Spartans bats got off to a slow start and didn’t wake up until the third inning, but when they woke up — they really woke up.
The Spartans would go on to score runs in each of the final five innings.
Heading into the seventh, BHS had a solid 6-0 lead. The Spartans then blew it open, piling on six more in the top of the seventh and handing Holy Names its first loss, 12-0.
“This was one of our better games all year,” said Spartan head coach Liz McCloskey.
“We didn’t worry about the past, just worried about what we can do this year,” she said.
Prior to the game against the Spartans, Holy Names pitcher Sylvie Thomas had allowed just one run. But the Spartans finished with a dozen and complied a whopping 19 hits.
“We faced a very good pitcher, but we stayed patient and we focused,” said McCloskey.
“If we continue to play like this good things will happen down the road,” she said.
Defensively the Spartans were dominating.
Raben again had an amazing performance on the mound going the distance. She gave up no runs on just two hits, against a team that had averaged nearly 13.5 runs a game in their previous 10 games.
Raben struck out six, and walked just two but also had some great defense behind her.
“It makes it so much easier (with a defense like that),” Raben said. “It gives me confidence to throw a pitch on the plate when normally I wouldn’t.”
Leadoff hitter Alison (Ali) Reichert was perfect at the dish, going 4-for-4 with a triple, three RBIs and three runs scored.
Erin Kinney and Taylor Greenfield each got three hits and freshman Riley Gregoire added two hits.
The Spartans are currently 10-0. Bainbridge did make two errors, however, and McCloskey said there is always room to improve.
“We have to just stick with the same intensity we did today,” Raben said. “Come out every game with that hunger and hold each other accountable for that drive.”
