SOFTBALL

Trenton softball squeezes out win over GHS

Larry Savage
larry.savage@gvillesun.com

TRENTON - Considering the game went into extra innings, and featured two outstanding pitching performances, how it ended seemed appropriate.

On a squeeze play.

Trenton softball remained undefeated on a bases-loaded squeeze bunt from Taniah Bowers, scoring Emily Barras, who was tagged out but Gainesville’s catcher couldn’t hold onto the ball.

The result - a 1-0 Tigers win over the Hurricanes.

“We just played Trenton softball,” said Tigers coach Todd Bryant, whose team, ranked No. 1 in Class 1A, improved to 20-0 on the season. “We hung in there and played great defense. Darian only gave up two hits and struck out 14.

“I knew if we could back around the top (of batting order) we had a shot. That was our only shot. When Emily got on (by a Gainesville error) and they misplayed the bunt, I knew we had a shot there.”

Between the game’s two pitchers - Trenton sophomore Darian Ingram and Gainesville junior Alissa Humphrey - gave up only five hits and a combined 22 strikeouts (Ingram with 14).

Gainesville (16-7) never reached third base and Ingram had two innings in which she struck out the side.

The Hurricanes’ best scoring chance came in the sixth when Summer Palmer opened with a single to left-center, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Sidney Karas. But a strikeout and flyout ended the threat.

“You can’t have three errors in an inning and beat a bad team let alone a good team,” said Gainesville coach Chris Chronister. “When you have an error, you have to buckle down. We just made it worse and worse.

“Hopefully we can learn from it and move on.”

Trenton, which won at Gainesville High 2-1 on March 1, didn’t reach third base either until the eighth inning. But an error got Barras on, and Grace Guthrie reached when the Hurricanes misplayed her bunt. Leadoff hitter Hallie Bryant, 0 for 3 on the night, singled to left-center to load the bases, setting up Bowers.

Trenton, which four days ago knocked off 8A power Oakleaf in Orange Park (8-3), closes out its regular season Thursday at home against 7A Columbia.

“No one in 1A plays this type of schedule,” Todd Bryant said. “Maybe at times it is a little too tough at the end, however, we have to get ready to play next week (district tournament).

“It puts us where our kids are very confident right now. Going into the postseason we need to be confident. Knowing in an extra inning game, we know we have already been through this.”

Gainesville, which like Trenton will host its district tournament next week, closes its regular season on Thursday at home against Union County.

“We couldn’t generate any offense,” Chronister said. “We couldn’t execute and get any offense going.

“They are solid all the way around. They have four kids that are going to D1 programs. They are a solid team. They are very good hitting, and Alissa was able to neutralize that, but we just didn’t have enough offense.”