If the first couple of innings were any indication, the Aberdeen Bobcats were in for a hard-fought league contest against the Black Hills Wolves.
That didn’t turn out to be the case as Aberdeen scored 10 runs over the final three innings to earn a 10-0 mercy-rule victory on Wednesday at the Bishop Sports Complex in Aberdeen.
Junior pitcher Lily Camp led the way for the Bobcats (3-0 overall, 1-0 2A Evergreen), tossing a one hitter while going 3-for-4 at the plate with four runs driven in.
The two teams played to a scoreless tie through the first two-and-a-half innings until Aberdeen broke through in the bottom of the third.
Aberdeen’s Abby Mainio and Zoe Vessey led off the inning with consecutive walks off Black Hills pitcher Ella Goheen and the Cats loaded the bases when Laynie Yakovich reached on an error.
Heavy-hitting senior Annika Hollingsworth followed with a single to score Mainio with the first run of the game.
Camp then sent a sharp single to left to score two runs and put Aberdeen up 3-0.
A few batters later, Hollingsworth scored on what appeared to be a bases-loaded walk to Britten Neal, but the count was only 3-2. Hollingsworth trotted home and crossed the plate without being tagged to put Aberdeen up 4-0.
One batter later the strange occurrences continued when Aberdeen’s Audree Gaddis was called out for interference after being hit by a ground ball in what appeared to be foul territory down the third-base line.
Aberdeen head coach Jimmy McDaniel attributed his offense’s slow start to facing Goheen for the first time.
“They’ve never seen that pitcher before. Typically when we see new pitchers, it takes them an inning or two to start timing things up,” he said. “See her at least once then we make the in-game adjustments when they are up to bat, what to look for and how to attack certain pitches. We give them refreshers in the dugout and they go out and adjust and execute.”
Aberdeen earned the walk-off victory with a run in the fourth and five runs in the fifth, capped by a two-run single to right by Kadence Bratten.
Camp struck out seven with just one walk in the one-hit victory while going 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI to lead the Bobcats in their home and league opener.
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen junior Lily Camp mashes a double during a 10-0 win over Black Hills on Wednesday in Aberdeen.
“I knew I wasn’t throwing the best the first couple of innings and I try not to take to hard because I know the team backs me up,” Camp said of her performance, which she felt was off her best. “I could tell I was a little bit off. All pitchers have off days and that was just one of my off days. … Knowing that my team is looking up to me right now, I’ve got to do my job.
“In the beginning, my screwball wasn’t working so I told (head coach) Jimmy (McDaniel) that I don’t want to throw that right now because it’s going to lead to more balls. I was throwing drop (balls) a lot and in the beginning I still had to get them worked into the game. … I worked on that throughout the game and by the end, they were working really good and consistently. My curve was on-and-off, but again, it was just one of my off-days and it happens sometimes.”
“We have a thing at the beginning of the game during warm-ups, if they can’t throw that pitch 10 times out of 10, chances are we are not using it because it’s that one missed pitch that gets hit or gives up a home run,” McDaniel said. “I’m thankful she’s comfortable with being able to recognize that if pitches aren’t working, she let’s me know what is working and what’s not. … She made her in-game adjustments. … Come the third, fourth inning, she was ringing people up.”
RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Black Hills’ Madison Mounts slides in around the tag of Aberdeen shortstop Zoe Vessey (1) during the Bobcats’ 10-0 five-inning victory on Wednesday at the Bishop Sports Complex in Aberdeen.
While Camp was the only Bobcat with a multi-hit game, Aberdeen got base knocks up and down the lineup. Seven different Bobcats collected a hit in the game with four of those coming from the bottom four spots of the order.
“Quality at-bats is always something we push everyday at practice and they understand there are more ways to score a runner,” said McDaniel, whose team also drew eight walks in the game. “They know in situations, if they can drive one out to the outfield or pop one up, chances are we are going to score a run because we have runners on and started getting more aggressive on the bases as the game went on. They focused in on the fact that there are more ways to get a run in rather than just smashing the ball and getting it out of the park.”
Aberdeen plays at Rochester at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, weather permitting.
Black Hills 000 00 – 0 1 4
Aberdeen 004 15 – 10 9 1
WP: Camp (5 IP, 0R, H, 7K, BB). LP: Goheen (4.2 IP, 11R, 6ER, 9H, 4K, 8BB).
Leading hitters: Black Hills – Venable (1-1). Aberdeen – Camp (3-4, 2B, 4RBI); Hollingsworth (1-3, R, 2RBI); Vessey (1-2, 3R, BB); Braaten (1-1, 2RBI); Hendrickson (1-2, R); Patrick (1-1); Mainio (1-2, 2R).
Other games
Rochester 10, Hoquiam 1
