Waubonsie's Hohman wins duel with Bartlett's Pagan
It took Waubonsie Valley starting pitcher Shannon Hohman just one hour and 20 minutes to assert her dominance over host Bartlett on Tuesday.
Along the way in those 80 minutes, she gave up just 4 hits and struck out 13, to win a 1-0 pitchers duel with Hawks starter Amber Pagan.
How dominant was Hohman on a sunny, windy afternoon?
She struck out the side twice, and caught four Bartlett hitters looking at strike 3. She retired six straight at one point, and then the last seven in row to end the game. She also didn't issue any walks.
But most importantly, she made her team's only run of the game stand up.
"My best pitches are my curveball and my screwball, and I think I did a really good job of just going in and going out," said Hohman, who improved her record to 6-5. "I think that they were just thrown off.
"I felt like I was throwing pretty hard today, and the biggest thing was, I was definitely working ahead in the count," she said. "If I wasn't throwing a first-pitch strike, I was definitely throwing a second-pitch strike and I think it's so important for me, personally. The second I get behind in the count, a hitter's best pitch is a 2-0 pitch, and if you give that up, it's over."
Hohman's coach, Valerie Wood, couldn't have been more pleased with her performance Tuesday, which helped the Warriors improve to 16-5 overall and 9-2 in the Upstate Eight Valley.
"Her screwball is ridiculous when it's on, and her curveball, too, she was just moving it in and out," Wood said. "Her and I were talking the whole time, just trying to figure out what's working, what's not. We have really good communication, and then her catcher, Sabrina (Scardamaglia), same thing, the three of us keep talking. They could not get around on her screwball today. That made all the difference.
"She was really focused today and ready to go. When she's on, she's on."
And how. Hohman stayed out of trouble all afternoon, save the Bartlett fourth inning, when Elyse Hickey doubled off the left field wall, and then was sacrificed to third by Pagan.
But Hohman ended the threat by striking out Suzie Miceli, and then gave up just 1 hit the rest of the way, a single by Nina Pavell in the Bartlett half of the fifth.
At the plate, the key challenge for the Warriors was the fact that Pagan matched Hohman in shutout innings through the fourth, before she weakened slightly. Scardamaglia singled to left field, and was replaced by courtesy runner Sydney Tobolski, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Audria Wagenknecht. Sabrina Calabrese then reached on an error, advancing Tobolski to third.
After a Bartlett meeting at the mound, Calabrese took second on a passed ball. Veronica Zahn then grounded out to short, and after recording the out, first baseman Hickey alertly fired a throw to catcher Miceli in an attempt to cut down Tobolski at the plate, but it was a hair too late. Pagan ended the threat by inducing Hohman to ground out to third.
Pagan gave up only 2 hits the rest of the way, but the damage had been done.
"It was a great old-school softball game," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "I think Amber did a great job changing speeds, locating her off-speed stuff and I think that kept them off balance. I don't think they got a real solid swing pretty much all game long. For the most part, she did a great job moving the ball around, hitting her spots and changing her speeds."
Pagan was no slouch at the plate, singling in the second inning and moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sarah Schmitz, in addition to her sacrifice to move Hickey along in the fourth.
Still, it was a loss, which dropped Bartlett's record to 11-6-1 and 5-3 in the UEC Valley.
"I know that we could have pulled it out, but we can take the good things out of the game, and that's all that matters," Pagan said. "It was a good game; they are a good team."
Hickey went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles for Bartlett. Calabrese went 2-for-3 with a single, a double and a walk, in addition to reaching on an error in the fifth, to pace Waubonsie Valley.