Sports

Baldwin softball moving in right direction

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If there’s one thing Baldwin softball coach Tom Llewellyn learned about his youth-filled team over the first few weeks it’s a no-quit attitude. Battling back from deficits of six, two and four runs in the same game is all the proof he needed.

“It’s a pretty young group and even though our first game was rough, we really answered the next time out,” Llewellyn said. “We returned only three girls with varsity experience and lost one to injury. I like the direction we’re going and think we’re one step away from clicking.”

The Lady Bruins split their first four Conference 4 games, including a wild 15-14 victory over South Side on May 5. They trailed 9-2 after three-and-a-half innings, forced extra innings, then fell behind 11-9 in the ninth and 15-11 in the 10th before pulling out a miracle win. “It would’ve been easy to throw in the towel a couple of times,” Llewellyn said. “It was great to see them battle and never give up. A win like that gives you confidence the next time you fall behind.”

Baldwin scored four times in the fourth to get within 9-6 and eventually pulled even in the sixth when freshman Mariah Spencer roped a two-run single. South Side, which leads the conference with just the one loss, scored twice in the top of the ninth to lead 11-9 and was one out away from victory when junior Makayla Jones tied it again with a two-run single.

When the Cyclones plated four runs in the top of the 10th to lead 15-11, even Llewellyn had his doubts. “To be down to our final out twice and come back was pretty incredible,” he said. Senior Sydney Sparks, Spencer and sophomore Emma Grochowski started the inning with hits and it was quickly 15-13.

With one out, sophomore Jessica Darcy and senior Natalie Diaz drew walks, the latter of which scored Sparks to make it 15-14. With two outs, freshman Kate Heuser worked a game-tying walk and sophomore Dylan Reyer won it with a single up the middle.

Reyer, a returning starter in center field, is off to a sizzling start with the bat. In four games in the leadoff spot, the lefty slap-hitter had seven hits, drew seven walks and led the team in runs with 12 and steals with six. The infield defense is anchored by Darcy and Grochowski on the left side. They’re splitting time between shortstop and third base since Darcy’s twin sister, Taylor, is likely to miss the season with a broken wrist. Senior Jada McKie starts at second base, with Spencer, who has 3 homers and 15 RBIs, at first.

Diaz handles the catching and she’s working with a two-pronged pitching attack featuring Heuser as the starter and senior Brooke Deluca as the reliever. Heuser and Deluca earned their first varsity wins on consecutive days. “We usually go with Kate for three or four innings and then bring in Brooke to keep hitters off-balance,” Llewellyn said.