GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A day after a stunning district loss at Ponte Vedra, Clay coach Matt Lewis didn’t have to say anything to his team 24 hours later, they knew the significance of the next game.
Thanks to the loss, their game with Ridgeview Friday became even more important and ultimately a winner take all for the top seed in District 4-6A. With the top seed at stake, both teams played with a lot of emotion and a lot of intensity with a lot on the line for both.
Yet despite the importance of the game both teams combined for only two errors, however one proved to be costlier than the other one.
Tied at 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, starting pitcher Brittany Michael retired the first two batters quickly and was one out away from going to the ninth after giving up a lead off hit from Ali Sarman.
Pinch runner Ashley Johnson broke from first and was attempting to steal second when catcher Brooke Michael fired to an uncovered second base, allowing Johnson to easily take second.
The throw got past both second baseman Sarah Anderson and shortstop Hannah Foster and also the center fielder Chloe Chambers and rolled all the way to the fence allowing Johnson to score from second giving Clay a 2-1 win in eight innings.
The error made up for the lack of offense by both teams who both combined for 13 hits, yet only three runs on the day. Yet their was plenty of drama on the day that filled the game.
Starter Morgan Crutcher retired the first four batter before giving up a single from Raven Little in the second. However, her defense would bail her out as Little must have thought there was two outs and ran all the way to third on a fly out to right and right fielder Paola Jorge-Silva gunned her out at first for the double play.
Pitcher Brittney Michael beat out a play to third to reach first in the third inning and Alyssa Adams followed with a single to right to put Panthers on first and second with one out.
Again the defense helped Crutcher out as Sarman and shortstop Marianne McDonald teamed up for a 4-6 put out forcing Adams out at second and third baseman Hailey Stone gunned Brittney Michael out at home as Kaitlyn Kumpf applied the tag to get out the inning unscathed.
Michael retired the first six in order before getting into trouble in the third inning as a leadoff double by Delaney Anfinson put the Devils into scoring position. Anfinson advanced to third on a sac bunt from Silva and scored on a squeeze bunt from Sarman giving the Devils an early 1-0 lead.
Chambers one out triple to right field over Silva’s head in the top of the fourth allowed the Panthers to quickly tie it as Chambers tagged up on Little’s sac fly to right.
The game remained tied going into the seventh, where each team had a chance to win it.
Chambers led off with a single to right and advanced to third on consecutive ground outs to second base, however was left stranded at third as Crutcher struck out Cheyenne Vincent for the third time.
In the bottom of the seventh, Sydney Lewis led off with a single to left and reached second on a sac bunt from Stone; however she was also left stranded after Michael induced a pop up to short and benefited from a put out at second after Silva tried to stretch a single into a double.
Crutcher retired the Panthers in order in the top of the eighth to set up the dramatic bottom inning. Crutcher finished with six strikeouts and allowed five hits in 8 innings of work to get the win.
Brittany Michael and Chambers were both 2 for 3 to lead the Panthers offensively, while Lewis and Silva were also 2 for 3 to lead Clay.
“I didn’t have to say anything to them they already knew,” Lewis stated. We put ourselves in this position, we win yesterday and there is no pressure today.
Did he change anything after the loss yesterday perhaps or make any necessary adjustments at all.
“We didn’t change anything at all, as the major part of our offense is bunting and putting the ball in play,” Lewis stated.
While he was glad to get the win and the No. 1 seed he also knows it doesn’t necessarily guarantee a potential playoff spot either and often is a curse.
“We were the No. 1 seed last year but we got knocked out (in the semis) last year,” Lewis added. “Even with Menendez and Orange Park there are no givens in this district.”
Clay (13-8, 7-1) will be the top seed in the upcoming District 4-6A tournament April 23-25 at Pedro Menendez, while Ridgeview (11-5, 6-2) secured the No. 2 seed with the loss, Ponte Vedra (8-14, 4-4) the No. 3 seed, Pedro Menendez (10-7, 3-5) the No. 4 seed and Orange Park (2-12, 0-8) the No. 5 seed.
Before Lewis and his staff can worry about that they still have regular season games remaining against a gauntlet of playoff caliber teams including No. 1 in 8A Oakleaf at home Monday in a game that was recently added after both teams lost a game for various reasons; at No. 9 in 5A Keystone Heights on Tuesday, at No. 4 in 7A Bartram Trail on Wednesday and home to Palatka on Thursday for Senior Night.
Ridgeview closes out its regular season with games at Middleburg Monday, at Nease on Wednesday and at home Thursday for Senior Day against Bradford.
