A tough week for Independence softball got a little more frustrating thanks to St. Albans star Tayven Stephenson.
After being named the state softball player of the year by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association last year as a sophomore, Stephenson gave a glimpse as to why Saturday in Coal City.
Facing the minimum batters over her seven innings of work, Stephenson no-hit the Patriots in a 6-0 win for the Red Dragons.
The only blemish for the St. Albans hurler was a runner that reached on a first-inning error. The runner was promptly erased trying to steal second by catcher Kiersten Lacy.
“I am going to jump on my girl for that one error and tell her she owes Tayven maybe dinner,” St. Albans head coach Christian Watts said jokingly. “But really, (Independence head coach) Ken (Adkins) is one of the best coaches and runs one of the best programs in the state. Delaney (Buckland) is a heck of a pitcher. For us to come down here and win on the road is big for us.”
Lead-off hitter Jaden Conrad gave Stephenson all the runs she would need over the first three pitches of the game.
Conrad ignited the Red Dragons on the second pitch of the game when she hit a drive down the right-field line for triple. She then scored on the ensuing passed ball on the next pitch.
“As a lead-off batter, I try to hit the first strike I can and try to get on base to give us some momentum,” Conrad said. “I saw the gap down the right field line and took the pitch that way.”
After starting the season on fire, Conrad had struggled over the previous two games for the Red Dragons.
“Jaden is a special kid. She got in a funk there for a couple of games, but she didn’t let that phase her,” Watts said. “Some of these kids spend a lot of extra time after practice. If you are in a slump, you have to work your way through it and hopefully that is what she has done. With her speed and athleticism we have a chance to move her around and score some runs early. That makes it so much easier on your pitcher at that point.”
The St. Albans shortstop gave Stephenson some extra cushion in the top of the third inning with a blast over the left field fence for a 2-0 lead.
“The last time we played Independence about (two) weeks ago, I had a walk-off home run,” Conrad recalled. “It was a screwball inside which was the same pitch as today.”
For its part, Independence was anemic at the plate and could never apply pressure to the St. Albans ace. Through five innings of work, Stephenson had fanned 11 batters with only four players putting the ball in the field of play.
“We are better than getting no-hit. That is embarrassing,” Indy head coach Ken Adkins said. “We are too concerned right now about our individual failures to think about our team success. That is where we are. We went a stretch today where seven out of eight batters took a first pitch called strike. Against a good pitcher, you are not going to keep getting chances down the middle of the plate.”
With Stephenson mowing batters down, St. Albans put the game away, for the most part, in the top of the fourth.
Three hits and a pair of Independence errors led to three runs and a 5-0 lead. The Red Dragons scratched another run across in the fifth without the aid of a hit.
“We still had some dead spots in our line-up today and the top of the order didn’t hit as well as it has been, but we did a better job today of getting bunts down and forcing them to make plays defensively,” Watts said.
Defensive struggles have been nothing new for the Patriots and have been a large part of their frustration this week.
“We went down to Winfield and played maybe one of the worst games we have ever played. We played well at Wyoming East and kinda fell apart in that one inning and just didn’t make plays,” Adkins said. “We like to watch the game during the game and that is not a good formula for defense. We get caught watching.”
Independence will look to right the ship Monday when it travels to county rival Liberty.
SA: 101 301 0 – 6 5 1
I: 000 000 0 – 0 0 2
WP: Stephenson, LP: Buckland.
Hitting – SA: Jaden Conrad 2-2 (3b, HR), Kiersten Lacy 1-4, Ava Bentley 1-3, Bailey Gilbert 1-2 (rbi), Ali Long (sac, rbi); I: none
