No. 4 Patterson Mill softball feeds off its energy as offense snowballs in 10-4 win against No. 12 Fallston
Patterson Mill’s offense can be deafening and overwhelming.
For one, in the Huskies dugout the floor is lava. Every player stands atop the bench while they’re batting. They smack the ceiling and snowball the momentum for every hit and aggressive baserunner.
Their energy was internally infectious, and ultimately decisive in the Huskies’ 10-4 win over visiting Fallston.
“I feel like as soon as it happened,” Patterson Mill coach Jeff Horton said of his team’s early offense, “I knew it was on today. … They do feed off that energy. They do feed off those feel-good at-bats. Once it starts it’s just a hit parade. It keeps coming. I get so excited.”
It was highly infectious when Savannah Reedy smacked an RBI double in the first inning and later scored on a wild pitch. It felt unmatchable when Mackenzie Knight –– A Syracuse commit who’s known most for her bunting and slapping –– responded to a shallow outfield with a two-RBI triple to the center field wall.
Horton was the one who noticed the reactive defense. Opposing teams have done it to her all season. The Cougars even committed extra practice time to it this week, their coach Brian Frist said. Horton felt that was her chance to put some respect on her name. He signed the call to Knight and she executed.
Knight kickstarted a five-run second inning, which implored a chorus of screams, cheers and yelps from the animated home side.
“All those players, parents and coaches know her,” Horton said after his Huskies improved to 10-2. “Their whole thing was to take it away from her today. … We’ve been talking about it and talking about it. Then, boom. Now they’re in trouble because she’s becoming a triple threat.”
Knight did it again her next time up. The infield inched forward anticipating bunt, and she spun them around with a triple to the right field wall. Audrey March brought her home tattooing a 0-1 pitch into deep right field for a stand-up double, making it 8-1.
Reedy later pirouetted the catcher’s tag to make it 10-2 in the sixth. Her dugout’s reaction met the moment.
Fallston is no slouch of a matchup. The Cougars are right there among the county’s best teams, now falling to Patterson Mill twice in the regular season. They’re led by Villanova commit Maddy Burns who, in a doubleheader earlier this week, threw 17 strikeouts in one and hit for the cycle in the other. She went 1-for-4 Wednesday with three strikeouts.
The Cougars drop to 7-4 in Frist’s initial season leading the program.
“I think we saw they’re a team just like anybody else,” Frist said. “They’re vulnerable. They can be beat. I’m very proud of my team. They didn’t give up. They kept making noise. We had our opportunities in the game. We left a lot of runners on base, just have to go back to the drawing board.”
The Cougars got their best shot in the fifth: one out with two on. A stoic Amanda Redmiles took care of business. She struck out Burns on a 10-pitch at-bat. An Abigail Marmen pop up loaded the bases with two outs. Redmiles fell behind in the count 2-0 before striking out Allyson Underwood.
The freshman pitched a complete game allowing 11 hits, four runs (three earned), one walk and eight strikeouts. She threw 108 pitches on the afternoon. What did Horton see from her? It started the night before . Redmiles stayed late after practice to tighten up any loose screws in her pitches anticipating a dog fight.
Horton told her before the game, “Hey, you’re in the big dog fight now. Welcome to the big show. … You want this game. You worked for this game. Come get this game.”
“The poise and composure she had,” Horton said, “that’s so easy for a pitcher as a freshman to get rattled. It’s so easy when it looks like things are falling apart. The pressure is on, they’re screaming, errors, bases loaded. … Wait until you see that kid as a senior.”
Fallston — 100 010 2 — 4 11 1
Patterson Mill — 250 102 X — 10 10 1
WP: Redmiles. LP: Burns.
2B: PM – Baldwin, March, Reedy, Ward; F – Pfaff. 3B: PM – Knight 2; F – Greiner.