AUGUSTA — When Edward Little sophomore Maddy Thistlewaite came to the plate in the ninth inning Wednesday, Cony’s outfielders moved in three or four steps.
Thistlewaite stands just 4-feet-11 and weighs 92 pounds, yet came up with the game’s biggest hit, a double that glanced off the glove of Cony left-fielder Sydney Cheever as she headed back. The Red Eddies gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth but hung on for a 6-5 win to remain unbeaten in Class A North softball play at 4-0.
Thistlewaite. who had grounded out in three previous at-bats, moved up in the batter’s box against Cony reliever Cari Hopkins and said she noticed the outfielders cheating in on her. She delivered her hit with two outs and two strikes.
“She hits the ball hard,” Edward Little coach Elaine Derosby said. “She has a strong top hand. She was in the batting cages at least once a week all winter long. She’s a scrappy kid.”
Cony (3-1) led 4-3 with two outs in the top of the seventh inning when the Red Eddies came up with another key hit, this one from junior Jordyn Reynolds, who had also grounded out three times, all to shortstop. This time she went to right field for a hit.
“I had been pulling the ball all game so I tried to get my hands going the other way so I could get on base,” Reynolds said.
Edward Little senior Sarah Hammond picked up the pitching win, striking out 12 while allowing eight hits.
“She’s the hardest thrower we’ve seen this year,” Cony coach Rocky Gaslin said.
The Rams led the entire game until Reynolds tied it up in the seventh. They scored a run in the first on an RBI hit from Cheever and had a pair in the second inning.
“She’s a competitor,” Derosby said. “She’s going to put herself on the line for her team and they’re never going to doubt she’s going to give her best effort.”
Skyler Watson got the start for Cony and kept the Eddies off balance with her variety of pitches. She also got a lot of help from her defense. In the first inning Hammond laid down a bunt and Watson threw the ball into right field. It carried to the fence and Hammond tried to score, only to be thrown out by second baseman Delaney Keithley, who took the relay from Kasidy Turgeon in right.
Turgeon had a strong all-around game, driving in a pair of runs with a two-out single in the fourth and robbing Hammond of a hit with a shoestring catch in the seventh. Rams shortstop Autumn Sudsbury made a number of strong plays, none better then her diving stop of Reynolds ground ball with two on in the fifth inning.
Cheever led the Rams with three hits, including an off-field homer over the fence in left to make it 4-2 in the fifth inning. It was the first of the season for the Cony senior who belted seven last year.
The Rams scored a run in the bottom of the ninth when Haley Ward led the inning with a sharp single to right, moved to third on a passed ball and Jamie Coull’s bunt, and came home on Allee Cloutier’s base hit.
But Cloutier was caught stealing at second on a throw from catcher Karli Stubbs and Keithley grounded out to end the game.
“I called the steal,” Gaslin said. “I saw her the first time we stole and she didn’t respond very well so I thought I’d take a chance. And Delaney Keithley been hitting the ball really well.”
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