Benton Academy improved to 3-1 on the season after defeating Sharkey Academy and coming from behind to defeat Park Place Christian last week.
Things began on Thursday for the Lady Raiders when they faced a tough Sharkey team in seventh grader Gracie Manor’s first start of the year.
Benton head coach Adam Dixon had some simple advice for his young pitcher before she took the mound.
“We decided to go with Gracie to give Catie a break where she didn’t have to pitch every single game,” Dixon said. “I talked to Gracie before the game and told her that I simply wanted her to pitch with confidence and throw strikes. We as a team need to play games where we trust our defense and play at a high level. I told the team that I wanted to focus on making big defensive plays.”
Manor and the Lady Raiders did just that.
For the first time since he’s been coaching at Benton Academy, Dixon was able to field a team that did not commit a single error.
Manor threw pitches to draw contact, and the defenders behind her were there to make the necessary plays, leading to a shutout.
On the offensive end of things, the Lady Raiders jumped all over Sharkey early, scoring six runs in the first inning, which was followed by two runs in the fourth inning and, finally, three runs in the fifth inning to give them an 11-0 win.
The Lady Raiders attempted to keep the momentum going the following night when they faced Park Place Christian in a game that was given time restrictions due to the extreme heat.
Behind the pitching of Manor and the defense behind her (and a run by Sarah Ann Chitty), the Lady Raiders found themselves within striking distance as they headed into the bottom of the sixth inning, which would be the final half inning of the game, no matter what happened. Down 3-1, the Lady Raiders had one final opportunity.
Instead of playing for a tie, however, Dixon wanted more.
“I told them we had to have two to tie the game, but I wanted three runs,” Dixon said. “I wanted to get out of there with a win.”
A few moments later the Lady Raiders had the bases loaded with two outs and Keely McGinty at the plate. Two pitches went by, and she had two strikes.
McGinty, who had been in somewhat of a slump, made solid contact deep into the gap at the short stop and outran the throw to first, allowing a run to score.
Manor, who noticed the first baseman wasn’t paying attention after the throw, took off towards home after reaching third base and scored the game-tying run. Haley Logan took the opportunity to steal third base.
A passed ball soon allowed Logan to steal home and the win 3-2.
Dixon believes the win was a product of a fight that was always in his team.
“I don’t think there’s ever been any quit in these girls,” Dixon said. “Even when we were losing some tough games last year, we never quit games. We’ve always fought.”
One of the biggest differences for the Lady Raiders this year is the emergence of Manor, who has given them another viable option to go with starter Catie Merrell.
“Having the option to throw a different pitcher this year is huge for us,” Dixon said. “Catie has improved drastically, but she had to start or pitch in like 18 games last year. That’s not a huge deal in softball, but for a school our size, where our players play a number of different sports, you need to have another option. Catie plays pretty much every sport, and she probably got tired by the end of last year. Her arm was tired. It took a toll on her. We’re going to mix and match the rest of the year to keep both of them fresh.”
Dixon is thrilled with how his team is playing, and he hopes to have it continue throughout the season.
