The Daily Standard
Story Archive
St. Marys sophomore Adyson VanDeKeere threw a no-hitter against Celina Tuesday.
ST. MARYS - Celina's Colbie Kinney and St. Marys' Adyson VanDeKeere each took no-hitters into the sixth inning in a pitchers' duel Tuesday at K.C. Geiger Park.
But the Roughrider bats came alive in the bottom of the sixth with three hits and two runs, while VanDeKeere retired the side in the seventh to preserve her no-hitter and a 2-1 St. Marys victory in a Western Buckeye League softball game.
VanDeKeere, a sophomore, fought off some early control problems but was otherwise dominating, striking out 14 Bulldogs while allowing just two balls to be hit out of the infield.
"She was throwing a lot of pitches early, getting behind in the count a little bit, but she battled through it and did a great job of keeping her composure," St. Marys coach Kendra Solomon said.
Celina (0-6, 0-1 WBL) got a strong pitching performance from Kinney and some timely defense to maintain a 1-0 lead for most of six innings.
"Colbie threw a great game. Defensively we're making great plays, and that's what we've been waiting on, that click to happen on defense," Celina coach Renee Williams said. "Our offense just fell short. Their pitcher was throwing great. She was pitching us outside, and we didn't make the adjustments we needed to give ourselves an opportunity."
Celina pitcher Colbie Kinney flips the ball to first base against St. Marys at K.C. Geiger Park on Tuesday. Kinney had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning before the Roughriders got three hits and two runs in the Bulldogs' 2-1 loss.
The Bulldogs grabbed an unconventional run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Maddie Allen drew a one-out walk, and when St. Marys catcher Ayden Young attempted to pick her off first base, the ball sailed wide of first baseman Ava Klosterman and deep into foul territory in right field, allowing Allen to score all the way from first.
St. Marys (4-3, 2-0 WBL) hit the ball hard in the later innings, but the Bulldogs came up with some clutch plays. Paiton Rhodes took away two hits with clutch plays at the hot corner and left fielder Rhylee Bonifas robbed the Riders of a leadoff hit in the fifth with a running shoestring catch.
"All I told the girls was, 'Just keep hitting the ball hard,'" Solomon said. "I mean, you can't do anything when their third baseman made those two great plays. Their left fielder made a nice play. They were making the plays they needed to make, so we needed to just keep hitting, because something had to fall at some point."
And with one out in the bottom of the sixth, something finally fell - the game's first hit, an opposite-field single by Kelly Holsinger.
Cadnece Hirschfeld laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Holsinger to second, where she scored on a single by VanDeKeere to tie the game. Ava Klosterman followed with a double in the gap to right-center to drive home VanDeKeere with what proved to be the winning run.
After walking Kinney with two outs in the third inning, VanDeKeere retired 12 hitters in a row before hitting a batter with two outs in the seventh. But she struck out the next Bulldog to nail down the win.
St. Marys right fielder Bailey Weigel tracks down a Celina fly ball near the foul line at K.C. Geiger Park on Tuesday.
"We're very young, but we're a talented group of girls," Williams said. "We're just waiting for all three parts of our game to connect - pitching, defense and offense - and when it comes together, we're going to be a competitive team."
Celina will be back in WBL action Friday at home against Van Wert, and will host a quad tournament beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The Roughriders travel to Waynesfield on Thursday and Defiance on Friday.
