In a game that carried a lot more meaning than just a win or a loss, Baylor's sophomore pitcher Cayley Quinn led her team to a 15-5 defeat of Central in a Hits for Hope contest that benefitted the Mary Ellen Locher Foundation and featured both squads wearing pink jerseys, socks and hair ribbons.
photo by Dennis Norwood
There were a lot of Hits For Hope at Baylor Tuesday afternoon.
In a non-district game where all money raised went to benefit the Maryellen Locher Foundation, it was a day of pink, pink and more pink.
The two teams combined for 20 runs and 18 hits, but Baylor finished with the upper hand after claiming the 15-5 win which was determined with two outs in the sixth inning.
Sophomore Cayley Quinn was the winning pitcher as she went the distance, allowing five runs on 10 hits. She also walked one and had three strikeouts.
Central sophomore Brooke Parrott wasn't as fortunate as she took the loss after surrendering a dozen runs on just seven hits. Her lack of control took its toll as she issues six walks.
Baylor, improving to 13-1 with its fourth straight win, scored at least two runs in every inning except the second, but it was a two-run single by first baseman Crosby Huckabay with two outs in the sixth that clinched the win for the Lady Red Raiders.
"Central is a quality team that we have a lot of respect for and I'm expecting to see great things from them in the post-season. This is the fourth time we've played them, so I was a little worried at the start," admitted Baylor coach Kelli Smith once the game was over.
"It was nice to get those three runs in the first after two outs and it was good to see consistent scoring the entire game. That's been a problem for us at times, but it was good to see some different kids step up and we had some big two-out hits.
"Cayley struggled a little bit in the second inning, but she made a couple adjustments and ended up pitching a great game. We have a huge region game here with GPS tomorrow and I just hope we can carry some of this momentum over until then," she added.
Parrott got two quick outs in the first before Lauren Lewis walked and Kayla Hughes got hit by a pitch. Huckabay then drove in the first run with a double to left-center before Mari Gardner followed with a two-run single up the middle.
Central came right back and took a 4-3 lead in the second.
Emma Beach, who had three of Central's 10 hits, led off with a single before Ally Welch followed with a one-out single. Both scored on a double by second baseman Samantha Scott. Parrott then singled. Scott and Parrott then scored on a two-run single by Kaili Crawley, but the inning ended when Crawley was thrown out at second trying to stretch the single to a double.
The Lady Pounders could only add one more run in the sixth, that coming on a run-scoring by Beach to drive in Lexie Ainslie, who had walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Meanwhile, Baylor scored two in the third, three in the fourth, four in the fifth before ending it with three in the sixth.
Freshman Trinity Liner gave Baylor the lead for good with a two-run homer past the scoreboard in left with two outs in the third.
Then in the fourth, Kamrie Rich singled to lead off before Maya Mathis reached on a walk. Lewis then ripped a 2-0 pitch to deep left for a three-run homer.
Lewis added a run-scoring single in the fifth when Central's defense made three errors.
Then in the sixth, Cassidy Simms walked four straight batters with two outs for the first run while Huckabay stroked a single to right to end the game.
"We could have laid down after giving up those three runs in the first, but we didn't and I'm proud of that," said Central coach Lee Anne Shurett after her team had fallen to 11-10 overall.
"I'm pleased with our effort, but we made some critical mistakes that really cost us. I thought the Baylor girl pitched a good game as she did a good job of keeping us off-balance, but this is just practice for the post-season. Baylor is a good-hitting team and they're capable of scoring a lot of runs," she added.
Huckabay and Lewis were the only Baylor players with two hits and seven runs driven in between them. Maya Mathis didn't have any hits, but she walked twice, reached on an error and scored three times.
Beach had three hits to lead Central while Scott finished with two hits and three runs batted in.
Baylor left nine runners stranded while Central left five.
While Baylor will be at home again on Wednesday to host arch-rival GPS, Central will be at home hosting Central.
CENTRAL 040 001 -- 5 10 4
BAYLOR 302 343 -- 15 8 0
Parrott, Simms (5) and Crawley; Quinn and Rich.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@Comcast.net)
Central shortstop Alexis Grampp makes a diving stop on a Baylor ground ball.
photo by Dennis Norwood