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Fort Scott pulls out clean sweep over Pittsburg
By Scott Nuzum
Herald-Tribune
FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Fort Scott High School's softball team wanted to hit the ball better after getting only seven hits all day while they were being swept by Southeast Kansas League leader Columbus by scores of 1-0 and 3-0, Thursday night.
Friday night, the Tigers may have hit the ball even better than they expected to as they came back to sweep Pittsburg in a league twinbill at Don Hewett Field. They won game one 10-0 in five innings and took the second 12-4, cranking out a total of 26 hits.
"We didn't hit the ball very well (Thursday)," Fort Scott head coach Alvin Metcalf said. "The girls didn't talk much on the way home until we got back to Fort Scott. And they came alive and when they got off the bus and they said, 'We're going to win tomorrow. That one's over and now we're going to win this one.' And they did a great job tonight."
The Tigers (9-3 in the SEK, 11-4 overall) got out to a 1-0 lead in the opener. Joce Allen led off the first with a slap single to center from the left side of the plate. Katelyn Simpson reached on an error , which allowed Allen to advance to third. Hannah Hawkins brought her in with a sacrifice fly.
Allen is a right-handed batter but hit from the left side in every at-bat of the doubleheader. She went three for four in both games.
The Tigers broke game one open in the third with six runs on only five hits. Hawkins led off with a double to center and Afton Gray followed up with a single. Erin Coffman came up and drove in both runners with a hit to center, making it 3-0.
Erica Davis walked and Elise Nation bunted her way on to load the bases. Jamie Collins drew a walk that forced in Coffman. Allen came up and slapped a single to center, plating Davis and Nation. Collins scored the final run on a sacrifice, making it 7-0.
Amanda Bowles' RBI single in the fourth drove in Coffman, who had also singled. The run rule kicked in during the bottom of the fifth. Allen and Simpson both reached base on errors. After a double steal, Allen came home on Hawkins' sacrifice fly. The center fielder's throw was so wild that Simpson was also able to score on the play, which ended the game.
Davis held Pittsburg to two hits while striking out 12. She did not walk a single batter -- she only faced 17, two over the minimum for a five-inning game.
Gray, Coffman and Nation had two hits each for the Tigers, who had 12 as a team. They also didn't commit any errors.
"The first game, wow," Metcalf said. "Great pitching. We made some plays in the field."
The second game was a bit tougher. The Purple Dragons (7-5, 9-7) scored three runs in the top of the first inning on four hits off Simpson. Although she did strike out a couple of batters to help the Tigers get out of the inning, Metcalf chose to put Davis back in the circle after that.
Metcalf explained his decision without prompting.
"(Getting pulled) is not her fault," Metcalf said, "because of our philosophy that we're not going to lose any doubleheaders. She gave up three runs, which isn't a lot but I didn't want to take the chance. She'll be back on the mound on Monday (at Iola)."
That done, Simpson showed what kind of teammate she is by going four for four at the plate in the second game and making an excellent running catch behind Davis (9-2).
The Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the third. Collins drew a one-out walk and Allen and Simpson followed with slap singles. Hawkins came up and plated both Collins and Allen with a single. Gray's sacrifice fly brought in Simpson.
Fort Scott broke the tie in the fifth. Allen led off with a single and Simpson beat the shortstop's throw on another slapper. Hawkins bunted to move the runners over but Pittsburg's third baseman couldn't make a play and the bases were loaded for Gray, who came though with a two-run single.
Coffman came up and belted a triple to right, scoring Hawkins and Gray. When she got to third, she slouched over in pain. It turned out that she somehow injured her left shoulder on the swing. Freshman Jade Weeter, who had just come over from the other side of Fisher Park where the Tiger JV was playing Columbus, pinch ran and scored on Davis' groundout.
The Tigers led 8-3 and Coffman felt she could go back out and play third as it was her non-throwing arm that was hurt. She was even able to contribute to Fort Scott's four-run sixth inning.
That started when Allen led off with another single. Simpson slapped to shortstop but Pittsburg was playing its infield in and no one covered first, so both runners were safe. Hawkins reached on an error and Gray walked to force in Allen.
Coffman came up, under orders to just bunt or slap. She grounded to short but that was enough to bring in Simpson. Davis followed with a two-out single to make it 12-3.
After that inning, Coffman's shoulder hurt too much to allow her to continue no matter how badly she wanted. With a limited bench, Metcalf put Morgan Tourtillott into right field, moved outfielder Sammi Therwanger to shortstop and moved Allen over to third, where she played last year.
"Erin Coffman may be the biggest (injury) I have to worry about because she is just a sophomore but what a player she is," Metcalf said. "I really don't know what she did. She didn't feel it until she got to third base and stopped. Our young JV players (had to come) in and filled a role, which is nice."
The Dragons scored their last run in the top of the seventh on a triple and a wild pitch.
Davis had two hits in the second game and also struck out nine batters while allowing just one walk.
The Tigers don't get much rest as they will be going to Iola Monday to take on the third-place Fillies in another league doubleheader.
Game One
Pittsburg....... 000 00x x -- 0 2 3
Fort Scott.... 106 12x x -- 10 12 0
WP -- Davis (8-2). LP -- Nance.
HR -- none.
Game Two
Pittsburg...... 300 000 1 -- 4 8 1
Fort Scott.... 003 054 x -- 12 14 1
WP -- Davis (9-2). LP -- Lair.
HR -- none.