Meridian has ball against SEL, 8-3
By By Will Bardwell / staff writer
October 5, 2004
Ebonee Ball did it all for Meridian High on Monday night.
Ball's pitching held homestanding Southeast Lauderdale to eight hits in eight innings, and her one-out triple in the seventh spurred the Lady Wildcats to a comeback in an 8-3 win over the Lady Tigers.
"Ebonee is a great ball player all around," said Meridian head coach Susan Frazier, whose team finished the regular season 16-9. "She's steady. She was doing a good job pitching for us. She stepped up big."
After Ball put the Lady Wildcats up 1-0 in the first inning by scoring on a Carsheena Blanks triple, Southeast Lauderdale's defense buckled down while its offense claimed the lead. Eli Bowen, who led the Lady Tigers with a 2-for-3 night, and Mallarie Bowen hit back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the second, and both scored on a Jessica Rose double and a sacrifice fly by Heather Harper.
Southeast Lauderdale's 2-1 lead held until the top of the seventh, when Ball led off the inning with her triple, which bounced past two Lady Tigers outfielders when they collided.
"That was kind of fun," said Ball, who tied Blanks with a team-high two hits. "I was just trying to pull us together for the team. I thought it would've gotten caught, but then it bounced past them."
Southeast Lauderdale had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh, when a Heather Ward single and two Meridian errors loaded the bases for the Lady Tigers with no outs.
But an infield fly gave the Lady Wildcats the first out, and Meridian got out of the inning on an improbable double play a line drive caught in right field, and a quick throw fired back to Ball at first base.
The Lady Wildcats poured on six runs in the top of the eighth to put the game out of reach. The first six Meridian batters Blanks, J'Quandra Hickman, Sarah Beckman, Brandi Limerick, Lindsay Lang and Courtney Trotter reached base in the eighth.
"Like I told the girls, if we get beat the way they (Meridian) hit the ball in the eighth, that's one thing," said Southeast Lauderdale coach Ryan Miller. "But we lost that game in our half of the seventh. We needed one fly ball, which is the easiest thing to get in slow-pitch softball."
The Lady Tigers' rally came up short in the bottom of the eighth. Andrea Wilson hit a one-out double to drive home Harper, but it was the only run Southeast Lauderdale mustered.
Harper also pitched well for the Lady Tigers, and set down 14 Meridian batters in a row at one point.
"Harper was doing a good job hitting her spots for the most part," said Miller, whose team is 18-11 heading into its regular-season finale tonight at Northeast Lauderdale. "But if you let a good team hang around long enough, they're going to come back and get you."
