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Burlington Central take down rival Whip-Purs
Updated: May 12, 2011 10:28PM
Even though the title was out of reach, Burlington Central still finished the Big Northern Conference East Division schedule on a strong note with a 10-5 win over rival Hampshire on Thursday.
The Rockets finished conference play at 8-2 — a game behind Marengo. Now, Central will spend the next two weeks playing bigger non-conference schools to get ready for the regionals.
“Obviously we would have liked to win the conference, but I like what we were able to do, especially with such a young team,” said Central coach Cray Allen, whose team starts just one senior. “We’ve made some progress and expectations are beginning to rise slowly but surely. The next two weeks will give us a chance to see where we’re at.”
Central (14-12) managed to take a 6-1 lead in the first inning against the Whip-Purs with only one ball leave the infield.
The Rockets got some help as Hampshire starter Jen Hurst struggled with her control. Hurst walked three batters and also allowed three runs to score on wild pitches. Emily Bell and Sarah Kisch each had RBI singles. Another run scored on an error. All the runs came with two outs.
“Any time you can compete like that after two outs it is a great feeling,” said Allen. “It shows you have that edge, that focus, that competitiveness.”
The Rockets tacked on four more runs in the sixth inning with the big blow a three-run homer from Bekah Harnisch. It was her sixth long ball of the season.
“I took some advice form a teammate and tried not to think too much,” said Harnisch. “I haven’t had a lot of confidence lately on outside pitches so I crowded the plate today. I had a feeling they might try to pitch me inside so I was looking for it and got the bat out in front.”
In the pitching circle, Central continued to try something new by using a combination of lefty Kelsey Johnson and righty Rebecca Roscher. Johnson gave up one run through the first two innings. Roscher came on in relief to pitch three scoreless innings. Johnson then re-entered in the sixth. When she struggled in the seventh Roscher came back in to get the final out.
“We’ve given up more runs than I would like so far this season, so this is something new we are just trying out,” said Allen. “Just trying to keep teams off balance with the righty-lefty combo. We’ll see how it goes. I thought we pitched pretty well today for the most part. They both threw strikes and that’s exactly what we want.”
Hampshire (5-18, 2-5) got a run in the first on an RBI double from Hurst. The Whip-Purs were held without another run until they made things interesting in the seventh with four runs. Elisa Wood had a two-run single. Christine Pottempo and Becca Von Draska followed with a RBI hits.
“We are little limited right now with some key injuries,” said Hampshire coach Ken Brahm. “But we’re proud of the way the girls played. We had a tough start but they came back and played hard.”
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