CALHOUN, Ga. – In basketball a screen is an effective way to spring a shooter open.
A screen also was quite handy in softball Tuesday at Calhoun High School, where the Lady Yellow Jackets won a 1-0 pitchers’ duel with Gordon Lee by scratching out a run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a perfectly legal “screen” play.
With the bases loaded and two out, Blair Hall hit a ball to the left side that appeared to be headed for the final out and another inning. However, runner Erin Barnes hesitated in front of Gordon Lee shortstop Paxton Grimes for just an instant, but it was long enough to take Grimes’ focus off the grounder as it squirted through for the game-winner.
“That was a great game,” Calhoun coach Diane Smith said. “My runner blocked the view of the shortstop. She didn’t touch the ball and she didn’t touch the shortstop. It was a high-hopper and it got through for the game-winning hit.”
Hall and Gordon Lee ace Canaan Burnett had nearly identical stat lines and each faced only a couple of trouble spots. Each went eight innings and struck out four batters. Hall allowed three hits and Burnett four, though Lady Trojans coach Dana Mull wasn’t pleased with the final “hit.”
“That’s a play my shortstop makes every time, and she told me there was definite contact,” Mull said. “But it is what it is, and the bottom line is we just have to take advantage of our opportunities. We are two good teams and it seems like it’s always a one-run game when we play.”
Gordon Lee (5-1) had runners on third base three times Tuesday but in each case was foiled by good Calhoun defense.
The Lady Trojans tried to pull off a double steal in the second inning, but the runner going to second was thrown out by Calhoun catcher Adella Carver.
Gordon Lee had Emma Minghini on second and one out in the fifth when right fielder Tori Roper threw out a runner at first base. Hall then stranded Minghini at third with a strikeout.
Gracey Kruse led off the seventh with a double and was sacrificed to third, but Minghini’s line drive was caught by a charging Carlie Henderson and Hall got Burnett to ground out.
“That was the best defensive game we’ve played this year,” Smith said. “Gordon Lee had several chances to score, but we were able to shut them down. Blair pitched a phenomenal game, and so did their pitcher.”
Calhoun’s best early chance came in the fifth, but Burnett stranded a runner at third with two out. She didn’t allow another runner until Molly Walker walked with one out in the eighth to start the winning rally. Barnes walked with two out and Carver reached on an infield error before Hall’s winning grounder.
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296; follow on Twitter @youngsports22.