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March 19, 2002 - Imagine a softball game featuring the No. 1, 5, 7, 17, 20, 22 and 25 top batters in 5A in the Greater
Houston Area. Imagine that three of these hitters lead the Greater Houston Area in Home
Runs in 5A competition. Imagine that the pitchers in this game have the No. 3 and 19 best ERA's in 5A in the Greater Houston Area. If you watched Elkins play Clements tonight,
then there was nothing to imagine because all of these great players play for either Clements or Elkins. Clements and Elkins
lead the Houston area in team batting. Clements and Elkins were both undefeated
in District 20-5A going into this game.
The fireworks in this game started early in the first inning. After the first Elkins batter struck-out, sophomore catcher
Erin Howe drew a walk. Kelly Osburn, the senior short stop, who signed to play college softball at Baylor University in
November, stepped to the plate. With a 2 strike and 2 ball count, Kelly blasted her 5th homerun of the high school season over the
center field fence to give the Elkins Knights a 2-0 lead. It was a line drive into a
strong wind. Brandi Clark followed with a walk. Rachel Isenhower sacrifice bunted Brandi over to 2nd base. With two outs, Kelly Keene grounded to Cheri Wood who
threw her out at 1st.
Apparently, Elkins was a little over confident with the two run lead. Clements Sarah Pledger hit a line drive over the Elkins
infield that a charging Monica Droz (left fielder) caught but then dropped. Ashley Sirman then bunted Sarah to 2nd and also
reached first safe. Cheri Wood then hit a line drive into left field to load the bases. Cheri has the No.1 batting average in 5A
in
the Greater Houston Area. She also has 4 home runs to her credit. With no outs, Holly Ridley hit a line drive that left fielder
Monica Droz caught with a great diving catch. Monica then threw to Brandi Clark at third base to complete the double play. It looked
like Elkins had just pulled a rabbit out of the magic hat, but then Lauren Hudson hit a ball up the middle between the pitcher
legs. Short stop Kelly Osburn quickly got to the ball and threw to first, but Lauren was safe. Ashley Sirman scored on the play.
The designated hitter, Melissa Johnson then hit a rocket shot line drive down the first base line. Somehow Tiffany Williams got
her glove on the ball, knocked it down and touched first for the third out. You talk about excitement!
In the 2nd inning, Janaya Ermel hit a line drive to center field that was dropped. Tiffany Williams laid down a sacrifice
bunt that Cheri Wood fielded and threw to short stop Holly Ridley at 2nd base for the force out. Monica Droz walked.
With runners on 1st and 2nd base, Jamie Hinshaw hit a grounder to 3rd baseman Andrea Gonzaliz who threw to short stop Holly
Ridley to get the force out at 3rd. Catcher Erin Howe then hit a high pop-up almost to the left field fence that caught
the strong wind. Left fielder, Alicia Zarrogni followed the drifting fly into foul territory and made the catch to end
the inning.
It was Clements turn at bat. Junior catcher, Kellianne Schrock hit a line drive between short stop and 3rd. Alicia Zarrogni
laid down a sacrifice bunt. Third baseman Brandi Clark fielded the bunt and threw to first to get the first out. The next
batter struck-out. Sarah Pledger then hit a nice line drive up the middle, but Elkins center fielder, Jamie Hinshaw, had
cheated up to the infield and caught the line drive for out No. 3.
Great pitching and defense kept the score 2 to 1 in Elkins favor until the 5th inning. Clements Sarah Pledger reached first
base on a throwing error by the short stop. Ashley Sirman laid down a sacrifice bunt to Brandi Clark who threw to first to
get out No. 1. Cheri Woods put runners at 1st and 2nd when she got hit with a pitch. Holly Ridley flied out to the left
fielder. Lauren Hudson loaded the bases with a single to left field. Then Melissa Johnson hit a double to right center
that drove in 3 runs. Clements was on top 4 to 2. Kellianne Schrock popped-up to the short stop to end the inning. The 4-2
score held up as the final score of the game.
Cheri Woods pitched the whole game for Clements. She gave-up two hits, two runs, scattered 6 walks and had 6 strike-outs.
Kelly Osburn and Tiffany Williams got the two hits for Elkins. Tiffany singled in the 4th inning.
Jennifer Leal went the whole distance for Elkins. Jennifer gave up 7 hits, struck-out one batter and hit a batter with a
wild pitch. College Sports Exposure radared Jennifer throwing her fastball 58 mph in the 7th inning on this windy day.
Melissa Johnson and Lauren Hudson led the Clements hitting attack. Melissa had a single in the 4th inning and the 3 RBI
producing double in the 6th inning. Lauren singled in the 1st and 5th innings. Cheri Woods singled in the first inning.
Kellianne Schrock singled in the 2nd inning. Holly Ridley singled in the third inning.
Clements moved into 1st place in District 20-5A with the win. Their record improved to 18-3 for the season and 7-0 for
district. It is unbelievable that the Houston Chronicle doesn't have the No.1 offensive team in 5A in the Greater Houston
area ranked in the top ten. Maybe this game will help their credibility!
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