Coal City – In a clash featuring three of the state’s top pitchers the team that had the most arms came out on top.
St. Albans’ Kendall Stoffel and Tayven Stephenson combined for a no-hitter, outdueling Independence’s Delaney Buckland in a 2-0 win Thursday in Coal City.
Offense was light on both sides with the deciding runs coming in the top of the seventh.
“Tayven came in and pitched well, but Kendall came in and pitched her rear-end off and kept us in the game,” St. Albans head coach Christian Watts said. “We didn’t have our best night hitting but Kendall pitched well and Tayven came in and finished it off and had a big hit, but I told them coming down this would be tough.
“We beat them 12-2 earlier in the season but I told them this would be a different ball club that you’re going to see. I fully anticipate they’re going to be in the mix in the postseason and they have a very good team. Their pitcher threw her rear-end off and we’re fortunate to come out of here with a win.”
Throughout the night when Buckland was in a tough spot she consistently found her way out of it.
After the sophomore gave up a two-out triple in the second to Bailey Gilbert she followed it with a strikeout.
The next jam came in in the fourth.
After Stoffel reached on an error at short, Jillian Holley notched a single and stole second, putting two in scoring position for Stephenson, who was batting cleanup. Buckland induced a popout to third on a squeeze attempt for the first out, holding the runners. Her defense then made up for the miscue that allowed Stoffel to reach. Taylor Glancy followed Stephenson with another squeeze attempt but Buckland fielded it, looked Stoffel back to third and fired to first for the out.
Stoffel took off on the throw but the relay back to the plate was in time as Indy catcher Kaylen Parks caught it and reached behind her to tag Stoffel for the final out of the inning.
“We were pumped to get that play,” Independence head coach Ken Adkins said. “That was huge play and we thought it was something that would help us build some momentum. When you start the inning with two runners in scoring position against the best team in the state and you get out of it, you expect good things to happen.”
Indy had its chance to answer in the bottom of the fourth when Buckland reached first on an error at short, but a fielder’s choice accounted for the first out. With Parks at the plate a called third strike and a throw to second accounted for the second and third outs of the frame as St. Albans got out of the inning unscathed.
“That’s a huge call,” Adkins said. “When you’ve got, in my opinion, the best hitter in the state of West Virginia at the plate and you call a ball in the dirt as the third strike, that’s a game-changing play there. And I hate to harp on that but in a game like this, you can point to that. I’ve got two circles on my notes for that.
“But no excuses. I thought we were ready to play today.”
Buckland found herself in trouble again in the sixth when an error in right field allowed Gracie Payne to reach third but back-to-back groundouts diffused the threat.
Meanwhile Stephenson relieved Stoffel in the circle, pitching the final two innings and striking out all six batters she faced.
Her work wasn’t limited to just the circle though.
In a scoreless tie in the seventh inning, she led off with a solo shot off the scoreboard in centerfield for the game’s first run. Buckland proceeded to fan the next two batters but another error at first base allowed Sydney Young to reach. She scored when Conrad notched a single but a flyout limited the damage.
Stephenson struck out the side in order to end the game, capping St. Albans’ regular season slate with a 24-0 record.
“We’re in a very fortunate spot that we have two really good pitchers,” Watts said. “In my eyes they’re going to be two first-team all-staters. And they’ve really answered the call when we haven’t had our best games on offense. I tell them all the time, we’ve got to make it easier on them, but I’m going to have a heart attack if we play any more games like this.”
St. Albans enters postseason play at 24-0 while Indy drops to 17-12 and will host Liberty on Tuesday to open sectional play.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
SA: 000 000 2 – 2 4 1
I: 000 000 0 – 0 0 4
Pitching and catching – I: Delaney Buckland and Kaylen Parks; SA: Kendall Stoffel, Tayven Stephenson and Jillian Holley. WP: Stephenson, LP: Buckland. Hitting _ I: None; SA: Jillian Holley 1-3, Tayven Stephenson 1-3 (HR, RBI), Bailey Gilbert 1-3 (3B), Jaden Conrad 1-3 (RBI)