Indians pound out 16 hits in win over Octorara

By Bill Rudick
Brudick55@gmail.com
ATGLEN—Monday at Octorara, Unionville continued doing what it has done well all season—hit the ball.
The Indians (3-2) connected for a whopping 16 base hits on the day, ranging from perfectly dropped bunts, to extra base bombs, to walk away with an 11-2 victory over the Braves (0-4).
“We’ve been hitting well all year,” said Unionville coach Greg Allen. “Even in the games we lost we did a good job of getting the bat on the ball.”
Unionville wasted no time in getting on the board, plating eight runs over the first three innings off Octorara starter Janae Cummings.
The first inning saw three Indians cross the plate on singles from Julia Knight, Annalise Griffiths and Taylor Crittendon, and Amanada Panati reaching on an error.
Second inning was more of the same, with Knight leading off with a single, then coming around to score when Anna DeShaies drive a ball to right for a triple. DeSahaies scored when Griffiths singled.
Three more came across in the third, with Dina Spydopolous leading off with a single. Mel Hammond followed with a one-out bunt single, a Knight RBI single, a successful squeeze bunt for a base hit by DeShaies, and an RBI ground out from Griffiths, who knocked in three of the 11 Indians runs.
Unionville tacked on some insurance runs with another in the fourth, and a pair in the fifth.
Knight finished the day a perfect 5 for 5, with 4 runs scored and one RBI.
“I was just trying to make contact,” said Knight. “But I was making solid contact and getting on.”
Crittendon picked up the win in the circle, going the distance and allowing two runs—one earned—on seven scattered hits. She struck out three and walked two.
“The wind was tough out there,” said Crittendon. “It certainly wasn’t helping me with any of my pitches. I did have some pretty good luck with the change up. But we’re played great as a team today—hitting the ball, and playing defense.”
Lost in the hitting display put on by Unionville was a nice outing from Octorara catcher Halley Arnsberger, who fnished 3 for 3 with a double.
“Halley had another tremendous day, like she’s been doing all year,” said Octorara coach John Cummings. “But we just weren’t getting the bat on the ball and putting the ball in play enough to get back in the game. We’re getting better, thought, and this is a great group of girls that won’t quit.”
Unionville’s only losses have come in close games at the hands of the two Ches-Mont division leaders, Great Valley and Avon Grove.
“We’ve got kids up and down the line-up that can hit the ball today,” said Allen. “We were aggressive, but smart on the bases, and played good defense despite the wind. We’ve got great senior leaders, and they are helping the younger ones get better fast.”
Unionville 3 3 2 1 2 0 0—11
Octorara 0 0 0 20 0 0 –2
Unionville AB R H RBI
Hammond—C 5 1 1 0
Knight—3B 5 4 5 1
DeShaies—SS 3 2 3 3
Griffiths—RF 4 1 2 3
Ukins—RF 1 0 0 0
Crittendon—P 5 1 1 0
Panati—2B 3 1 1 1
Crisafuli—2B 1 0 0 0
Spydopolous—1B 4 1 1 0
Hojnacki—LF 3 0 0 1
Totals 39 11 16 9
Octorara
Gallagher—SS 2 1 1 0
McCombs—LF/P 3 0 1 0
Lee—3B 4 0 1 1
Carr—1B 3 0 0 0
Solomon—LF 3 0 0 0
Arnsberger—C 3 0 3 0
Cummings—P/LF 3 0 0 0
Kine—CF—3 0 1 0
Konnanker—RF 3 1 0 0
Totals 27 2 7 1
2B—Arnsberger 3B—DeShaies (2)
Pitching IP R H K BB
Unionville
Crittendon (W) 7 2 7 3 2
Octorara
Cummings (L) 2.2 8 9 0 3
McCombs 5.1 3 7 0 2