Bridgers paces Rams
Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 2, 2005
CREEKSVILLE – Freshmen Corrie Bridgers was 3-for-4 and led the Lady Rams of Northampton-East to victory here Thursday afternoon.
Bridgers had two singles and a double to lead NCHS-East to a 12-2 victory over county rival Northeast Academy. In addition, Bridgers joined sophomore Mindy Drewette to hurl a two-hitter.
Northeast Academy, without the services of junior Laura Boone and Lauren White who were injured in an accident, grabbed an early lead by scoring a run in the top of the first frame.
Lyndal Brown drew a walk with one out, but was erased when senior Hillary Flythe hit into a fielder’s choice. Flythe went to second when Lindsey Bridgers reached on an error. She took third on a passed ball and then scored when a pickoff attempt went awry.
That one-run advantage held up until the bottom of the second inning.
Nikki Turner got things started for East when she drew a walk and went to second on a passed ball. Jessica Price then delivered a single to center that sent Turner to third. Jo Ann Rose hit into an RBI-groundout, scoring Turner and sending Price to third.
Alicia Piland and Megan Ard drew back-to-back walks to load the bases before Drewette reached on an error, scoring both Price and Piland.
Amanda Bethel, who was 2-for-4 on the afternoon with one RBI, then drove in Ard. Drewette went to third on that hit and then scored on a failed pickoff attempt that gave Northampton a 5-1 lead.
The Lady Eagles got one of the runs back in the top of the third when Brown led off with a double down the third base line, stole third and scored on a passed ball to cut the lead to 5-2.
The home team came right back in the bottom of the third inning when Corrie Bridgers led off with a double to right. Turner followed with an RBI single to left. Price reached on an error before Rose was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Drewette came through with a two-run single to push East to an 8-2 lead.
Neither team was able to score for the next two innings.
The Lady Rams plated four in the bottom of the sixth to end the contest. The inning started with Bethel reaching on a three-base error. That was followed by an RBI-single from Lou Anne Flythe. A basehit by Corrie Bridgers was followed by a bunt from Turner that plated Flythe. Bridgers then came around to score when Rose reached on a fielder’s choice.
Rose followed by taking second and third on wild pitches before scoring on a blown pickoff attempt, ending the contest in six innings.
Brown and Lindsey Bridgers were each 1-for-2 for the Lady Eagles.
In addition to Corrie Bridgers’ outstanding day at the plate, Bethel, and Turner, who was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, led the Rams. Also collecting hits were Drewette, Lou Anne Flythe and Price. Rose collected two RBIs on the day.
On the mound, Drewette went four innings to pick up the Rams’ win. She gave up one hit, striking out seven and walking four. She gave up two runs, only one of which was earned. Corrie Bridgers pitched the final two innings, giving up a single hit and no runs while striking out one and walking one.
Duncan took the loss for Northeast. She went seven innings, giving up 12 runs on nine hits. She struckout six and walked five.
&uot;We cut down on our errors and cut out a lot of mistakes,&uot; first-year Rams’ skipper John Kisic said. &uot;I was pleased with our pitching for the most part. We knocked our walks down and that was a definite plus.&uot;
The win improved the Rams to 5-1-1 on the season while dropping Northeast to 3-3-1.
Northampton-East will host Rocky Mount Charter on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. while Northeast will be at home to meet Hobgood Monday at 4 p.m.