HIGH-SCHOOL

Lady ‘Dogs, Lady Lions play ball

MAURICE PATTON
Chloe Carter (17), tagged out by Tashiya Lyles on a third-inning stolen base attempt, doubled home a pair of runs in her next at-bat Friday night as Columbia Academy remained unbeaten with a 4-0 win over visiting Columbia Central.

Seth Anderson didn’t want to miss a chance for his Columbia Academy softball team to play, since he’s not sure how many more the Lady Bulldogs will have.

First-year Columbia Central coach Shelby Tietgens shared that sentiment when she answered Anderson’s phone call Friday morning, resulting in the two teams playing that night — a month ahead of their previously scheduled meeting.

“We’re always looking to play,” Anderson said following CA’s 4-0 victory. “We had a tournament cancelled, but we were able to pick up two of the four games we lost.”

Spring sports schedules are typically fluid to some degree because of unpredictable weather conditions. The impact of the recent coronavirus outbreak and related precautionary measures has added another level of uncertainty for coaches.

“I’m thinking we’d have some sort of suspension or postponement at some point, just because it’s happened at every other level,” Anderson said. “I told the girls, you’ve got to take advantage of every opportunity. Every game could be your last game. You want to get as many games as you can, especially for our senior (Bailee Luna).”

Against an undefeated Lady Bulldog squad coming off a Class A state championship in 2019, Tietgens saw the matchup as a measuring stick for her winless program — as well as a chance to get on the field.

“I knew it was a tall task, but when Seth called, I said ‘let’s go’,” said the Columbia Academy athletic hall of famer. “We’re always ready. You see it as a game where we can see some of our strengths and weaknesses, to get to see the caliber of pitching, defense, offense they have.

“I knew if we did the little things, we’d have a shot. We didn’t do the little things. We didn’t get some bunts down, (didn’t get) clutch hitting. Those are definitely areas where we need to improve.”

Central stranded three runners in the opening five innings and had another thrown out on a basestealing attempt — offensive opportunities against CA junior Journey Mitchell that proved costly when the hosts eventually broke through against Samantha Stubblefield.

Mitchell’s leadoff double in the fifth was followed by an Abbigail Adkins base hit, an error on a safety squeeze and a two-run Chloe Carter double. Luna’s sacrifice bunt scored Carter for a four-run cushion, and Mitchell retired six of the final nine batters she faced while finishing with 12 strikeouts.

“Journey pounded the strike zone all night,” Anderson said. “She had great control of her riseball, and she located the fastball on the outer half of the plate.

“(Offensively) we hit a lot of balls hard early; credit their third baseman (Haley Barnes) and shortstop (Tashiya Lyles). I just told ‘em, keep swinging; they’ll find holes at some point.”

Carter went 2-for-2 with her two-run two-bagger to lead CA offensively. Kennedy Chatman (double) and Tori Duval each added hits as the Lady Bulldogs finished with six off Stubblefield.

Kiraonte Buchanan, Haven Morrow and Spring Hollands — all among five freshmen that played Friday night — accounted for Central’s three hits.

“I’ve seen tremendous growth,” Tietgens said. “It’s tough to get freshmen ready, but we knew it was going to be a freshman-laden team.

“These girls have told me, ‘we want to be better; we want to change the culture’. As long as I know that, I can push you. They’ve shown some resilience that has surprised me at times.”

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Columbia Acad. 4, Columbia Central 0

CC 000 000 0 — 0 3 2

CA 000 040 x — 4 6 0

Samantha Stubblefield, Kiraonte Buchanan (2), Stubblefield (2) and Maddy Fraser. Journey Mitchell and Laney Turner. W — Mitchell. L — Stubblefield.