Hess Ks 15 as FCVA moves into championship game

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July 12, 2012

Hess Ks 15 as FCVA moves into championship game

By Drew Karpen Meadville Tribune The Meadville Tribune Thu Jul 12, 2012, 07:00 AM EDT

SAEGERTOWN — With a spot in the Section 1 9-and-10 Year Old softball championship up for grabs, French Creek Valley American’s Courtney Hess and Franklin’s Lexi Baker were in the middle of a good old-fashioned pitchers duel on Wednesday.

After 27 strikeouts were registered, Hess and FCVA were one notch better than Baker and Franklin during FCVA’s 2-1 victory in the winners’ bracket final at Bertram Park in Saegertown.

Hess finished with a complete-game two-hitter while striking out a staggering 15 batters. Baker was the tough-luck loser, but she also had an impressive performance for Franklin. Baker pitched six innings and allowed three hits while striking out 12.

“Courtney had a phenomenal game,” FCVA manager Mike Young said. “She had a great performance and really stepped up her game when we needed her to.”

FCVA will enjoy a day off today before returning to action on Friday in the championship game. Franklin is back on the diamond today at 6 p.m. in the losers’ bracket final against DuBois. DuBois eliminated LeBoeuf with a 13-3 win in the losers’ bracket semifinal on Wednesday.

Hess was the main attraction throughout the game and was on her way to something special through the first three innings. Some might say she looked perfect out there.

And this is one day after Katelyn Young threw a four-inning no-hitter during FCVA’s tournament-opening 12-0 win over DuBois on Tuesday.

In her first go-around against Franklin’s lineup, Hess struck out eight of the nine batters she faced, with the only ball put in play coming off a bunt to third base by Kalyn Sweeney.

FCVA's offense struck first in the third inning, scoring both of its runs in that frame. With the top of the order up, coach Young knew this would be an opportune time to get a rally going.

“It was crucial that we were able to get some runs on the board to back up Courtney,” he said. “We knew we had a pretty good chance with the top of our order coming up.”

Coach Young was right on target with his assumption. Leadoff hitter Carlie Schlosser started the inning with a single up the middle. With Schlosser on first and Kaylee Mulligan up to bat, three consecutive wild pitches by Baker allowed Schlosser to trot around the bases and score.

Mulligan, who drew a walk in that same at bat, scored FCVA’s second run when Hess’ attempted sacrifice bunt was fielded and thrown into right field by Franklin third baseman Kaylyn Fry. Quickly, FCVA was ahead 2-0 entering the bottom of the third.

“That’s a good team out there, and we can’t be giving them more outs than they already get,” Franklin manager Shannon Hawke said.

Franklin finally got to Hess in the fourth. Her perfect game was broken up when Gracie Stryffeler reached on an error on a ground ball to second basemen Ashley Merritt.

Sryffeler would come around to score on the very next batter when Schlosser, FCVA’s catcher, overthrew second base on a steal attempt. Stryffeler’s hustle cut FCVA’s lead in half to 2-1.

Even though the perfect game and shutout were no longer in order, Hess was still hopeful to keep her no-hitter intact.

But that didn’t last long. In the same inning, Ashley Amsler drove a single up the middle to break up the no-hitter.

If there was any kind of worry traveling through the heads of the FCVA fans, Hess made sure to ease their nerves. Hess finished the game similar to how she started it, striking out six of the last seven batters.

“I was just making sure that I was finishing my pitches,” Hess said. “It made it easier for me knowing that I had my team backing me up on every play.”

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