Is this picture a
spoiler?
Ron and I took
cover from the late afternoon sun in his car and rehydrated with some hot
water. They said it’d be a half hour between games, but it was more like 20
minutes. I was listening to the PA and
writing down the lineups while standing outside by the car. Back inside the stadium, a few more people
had shown up and we lost our seats. We
sat down lower and closer to the field.
Some members of Aggie Volleyball
were among the new arrivals. They looked
like they’d been at practice. Fahren
Glackin’s dad threw out the first pitch.
The first two
innings were scoreless between the Redhawks
and the Aggies, just to increase the tension, as the winner of this game would
be the regular season champion. Kelsey Horton made a great jump catch
of a liner in the second. There was a
scary moment later, as Amy Bergeson
in left ran into the fence going for a foul ball. It looked like she went face-first into
it. No!
Not her sweet face! She was okay though
and stayed in. 
There were
t-shirt tosses in both games. I stood
and tried in the first game. Savannah Davison from Aggie Volleyball
got one here. (Tatyana Battle’s changed her hairsyle a bit. It looks good.) Analise
de la Roca started this game for the Aggies and was throwing hard. In the third, she was helped out with more
good defense. Caity Szczesny made a play on a liner in right, and Jeanelle Medina caught a liner at her
shoe tops at third. There was a delay
right after. The ump called out the
grounds crew to redraw the batter’s box and circle. The PA asked the fans to give them a hand
afterward.
Carley Nance
for the Redhawks looked truly unhittable for her first two innings. With Analise only giving up one hit over
three innings, it felt like one run might win this. Shelby
Shultes led off the third with the first Aggie hit. Destiny
Blueford came in as a pinch runner and stole second. Caity came up and slapped a double. The crowd veritably exploded as Des came
around to score.
Once again, the
outfield played up in the infield for Rachel
Rodriguez at bat, but she worked a walk.
Kelsey came up. They tried to
walk her, but she fouled off a couple of pitches. Maybe with two strikes, it seemed safe to
pitch to her. They were almost
right. She just barely hooked one around
the left field pole for a three-run homer.
4-0 Aggies. On a technical note,
I noticed Kelsey was standing further back in the box than the last time I’d seen her. She’s great either way, but might hit home runs quicker this
way.
In the fourth,
volleyball coach Mike Jordan and his
family came in. He didn’t sit with his players though. Several people went over to see him,
including the official Aggie fan kid, who sat down next to him. On field, Analise was having trouble with the
strike zone, mostly in that the ump was squeezing her. I’d noticed Coach Kathy Rodolph wearing the ump out from the dugout
earlier. I even heard a “Come on, Blue!” like she was sitting in the stands
with a beer. Finally, Analise even
stopped after a ball call and asked, “Where was that?” A walk eventually
resulted. Kaylee Ree got on with a fielder’s
choice, then Maddy Kristjanson came
up and homered. The contingent of SU
fans went nuts. Coach Kathy pulled
Analise immediately and put Game 1 starter, Samaria Diaz in to finish the inning. 4-2 Aggies.
In the bottom of
the fourth, after giving up a pair of singles, Caity blasted one to left
center. As she rounded first, she held
on to her helmet and almost jumped out of her shoes as the ball went over the
wall. It was her second home run of the
year. It was hard not to feel good for
her. Rachel was up next and the Redhawks
put a different shift on her, thinking she’d hit it to the left. She hit it right into the shift and got it
right by the third baseman. Kelsey
fouled out to deep right field, but Nikki
Butler would drive Rachel in. 8-2
Aggies.
Sam gave up a
double in the fifth, but no damage was done.
Once again, the Aggies were in a position to run-rule the game if they
could score twice. The first two batters
went down, before Jeanelle and Caity singled.
Rachel was up
again and this time the Redhawks played her straight up, but she walked to load
the bases . . . for Kelsey Horton. The
crowd started stomping its feet on the metal bleachers during her at bat. She took three balls and fouled off a couple
of pitches. One foul nearly hit Victoria Castro outside the dugout as she
feigned injury. I don’t know where the last pitch was, but it was somewhere where
Kelsey could square it up. Bang! A grand slam walk off, regular season-winning
home run to left center. And everyone kind
of saw it coming. 12-2 Aggies final by run-rule.
I felt a bit bad
for the pitcher, Shianne Smith. She’d come in the last inning and gotten
Kelsey out, but that last at bat was an almost untenable position to be in. Before this at bat, the third baseman Alyson Matriotti, had talked to
her. I’d
noticed they’d held hands during the Anthem. All I could say to Shianne would have been, “Hey, it was Kelsey Horton.” This team is going to be seeing Kelsey in
their nightmares.
Our gameball to
anyone not named Kelsey goes to Caity
Szczesny for going 3 for 3 with 4 RBI’s and a homer. Not bad for someone who probably had a sore
foot from the previous game. Good to see
the bottom of the Aggie order getting it done for this game as they scored 7
runs. Analise de la Roca and Samaria
Diaz combined for an excellent 3 hit, 2 run pitching performance over 5
innings. Lastly, Kelsey Horton went 2 for 4 with 2 home runs and 7 RBI’s. I’ve already started molding the statue which will one day
stand outside the stadium. I can see it
now.
Mommy, why is there a statue of a naked girl with a bat
there?
Don’t look,
dear. Hurry along.
(Hey, I see her
as like a Greek goddess of batting. It’s entirely appropriate.)
The PA thanked
the Seattle U fans for attending and urged everyone to stick around for Senior
Day ceremonies. The Redhawk seniors were
all announced and given roses. The three
Aggie seniors were then announced and their records and accomplishments were
read off.
Amy Bergeson,
in addition to being a tough cookie, has been an excellent left fielder. Fahren
Glackin achieved the program record in hit-by-pitch, but more over, she “Pitched the game of her life as the winning pitcher in last
years’ conference championship (5-13-17).” Lastly, Rachel Rodriguez managed to pass her
sister in hits (Stacy was also announced as she just graduated with a masters
degree), and she got the winning hit that forced that championship game. In addition, Rachel was a total sweetheart
when I met her in February (2-11-18).
On the way out,
Coach Jordan was hanging out by the ramp.
He was in a good mood and shaking hands with people. I almost think he recognized me from our last
meeting at the autograph signing. I shook hands with him, and said that I
wished that his team played spring games.
Apparently, he has a hard time rounding them up just to practice this
time of year.
Out in the
parking lot, the Seattle U players were having a meeting. They didn't have a bus and may have arrived
via several cars. Ron had to get going
to his caretaking job, so no after-game meal or ice cream to celebrate. That was a bit of a downer, but I certainly got
back home in way better spirits than when I left. Sunday night, I got to watch video of Kelsey’s slam on the local sports with the tagline, “How do you win a regular season championship like a boss?” The video was
courtesy of Athletic Director Mario
Moccia. I’d seen him at the game without his girls. I’d thought he wasn’t really paying attention.
Okay, on to the
tournament in two weeks.
No comments:
Post a Comment