Sports
Claytor’s Late Homer Lifts Ohio
By: Kaleb Carter
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Late game-heroics from Ohio hitters saved the day again for the Bobcats, as they took down the Northwestern State Lady Demons in the final day of the Frost Classic in Chattanooga, Tenn., 7-6 in eight innings.
It was a scoreless pitcher’s duel between Bobcat hurler Savannah Jo Dorsey and Demon pitcher Shelby Sells all the way up until the fifth inning.
In the fifth, both teams picked up a run as Dorsey helped her own cause on a home run to right field.
Ohio hitters must have had enough, as the ‘Cats came to the plate and loaded the bases for Adrienne Gebele. That was a big mistake for Sells, who surrendered a bases-clearing double to put Ohio on top 4-1.
Dorsey shut down Northwestern State in the sixth but had a meltdown of her own in the bottom of the seventh. With the Demons trying to further extend their weekend, senior first baseman Brianna Rodriquez made waste of a Dorsey pitch, placing it over the fence in left field to tie the game up at 4-4.
The home run sent the game to extras, the third such time the Bobcats have had a game go past seven frames.
Alexandria Basquez started the scoring in the eighth with an RBI double. With Basquez on second, freshman Madison Claytor came up with the biggest hit in her early career by smashing a two-run homer to left field to push the lead to 7-4.
Sells gave up the dinger after having been pulled from the contest in the six and reinserted in the eighth. Claytor was the first batter Sells saw, and the decision did not pay dividends for the Demons.
The bottom of the eighth ran a bit longer than Ohio might have liked, with the Demons reaching Dorsey for one run. Lauren McClary switched with Dorsey on the mound, and gave up a run as well. Shaky as the inning went, McClary struck out Brittany Virgoe to end the game.
As sharp as the starting pitchers were initially, the two combined to give up 11 runs.
Dorsey went seven and one-third innings, and struck out eleven. She did however, yield five walks and her 10:1 fly out to ground out ratio left much to be desired. The six runs given up were the most for her on the season.
In spite of the late game issues, Dorsey moved to 9-1 on the season, while McClary picked up a save.
Casie Hutchinson and Claytor both crossed the plate twice. The whole starting group contributed to the winning effort, with every Bobcat starter collecting at least one base hit.
Senior Chelsea Hortman did not play over the weekend once more (she has not played this season) and Jodi Hermanek did not go into detail on her status in the week leading up to the tournament.
“She’s healthy, she’s good.”
The Bobcats now stand at 12-1 after three early season invitationals. They went 4-1 at the Frost Classic.