March 10, 2001|By Joe Williams of The Sentinel Staff
LEESBURG - Just how did Leesburg's night go in Friday's Class 4A, District 2 softball game against Gainesville Eastside?
Trailing
6-2 in the bottom of the fifth in the game at the Carver Middle School
softball field, Leesburg had the bases loaded with one out when No. 9
hitter Jamie Clemons ripped a line drive to left field.
Instead
of the ball falling in for extra bases, Rams right fielder Carol Mickey
made the catch and threw to first for a double play.
End of inning, end of threat and, for all practical purposes, end of game.
"We
played some pretty solid defense,'' Eastside Coach Bob Heron said
following his team's 7-3 victory. "That DP that got us out of the inning
was pretty big. For us to get a win on the road in a district game is
pretty big.''
Leesburg (3-6, 1-4) had other chances to get into
the game, which was played in a cold, intermittent drizzle, but those
also ended with good defensive plays by Eastside (4-5, 1-2) or lack of
key hits by Leesburg.
"Leaving baserunners on killed us,''
Leesburg Coach Tracey Hanson said. "There were a couple of times when we
got two runners on with only one out in an inning and we couldn't
score. I don't know how many base runners we left on.''
Leesburg left 10 runners on base, including six who were in scoring position.
Eastside
ended an earlier Leesburg threat in the fourth inning on a nice
double-play turned by second baseman Jennifer Mansolo and shortstop
Hartley Carlson.
Leesburg did get some nice performances,
including a three-for-four effort at the plate from Toni Vasquez, who
also pitched well in relief, getting eight Eastside batters out in a row
during a stretch from the final out of the fourth inning through the
first out in the seventh.
As a heavy rain fell in the first
inning, the Rams took a 1-0 lead on two-out hits from No. 3 hitter
Brandi Blanton, who stole second, before a double by clean-up hitter
Ashley Lambert scored Blanton.
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Leesburg, though, took its only
lead of the game in the bottom half of the first when Eastside pitcher
Amy Silverman struggled with her control on the wet ball. Silverman
walked Leesburg's first three batters Leslie Mills, Morgan Wainscott and
Ericka Vasquez before Shana Granger singled to left field to score
Mills and Wainscott later scored on an error on a ball hit by Vasquez.
However,
the lead was short-lived as Arica Alston, a pregame replacement at
first base after scheduled starter April Moore hurt her knee during
pregame warmups, delivered a two-run triple for the Rams in the top of
the second inning.
Alston's triple came after Caroline Carpenter and Carlson opened the inning with singles.
What
could have been an even bigger inning for the Rams ended when Alston
was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a passed ball, Amy
Silverman was thrown out an a bunt attempt and Melissa Silverman struck
out.
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