Green Wave outduel Bulldogs 2-0
With 2 1/2 weeks to go before the start of the District 5A-15 softball tournament, the gauntlet continues.
The four teams which figure to be the top seeds — Fort Myers, Barron Collier, Ida Baker and North Fort Myers — have been locked in tight regular season battles, providing a preview of what is still to come.
“We’re top heavy,” Fort Myers coach John Schwochow said of the district, “with quality teams that can beat anybody on any given night.”
The latest showdown took place Tuesday night when Ida Baker visited Fort Myers.
Baker had an 11-game winning streak snapped last Thursday with a 1-0 loss to Barron Collier in eight innings, and were shut down Tuesday by Fort Myers ace Lindsay Richardson in a 2-0 defeat.
Richardson struck out 15 batters, and the Green Wave got a two-run home run from Tori Mason in the third inning for the only scoring of the game.
“I don’t think our intensity was what it should’ve been,” Baker coach Morgan Klare said. “We played a pretty solid defensive game, but didn’t show enough intensity at the plate.”
It’s become clear that runs are hard to come by off Fort Myers’ Richardson and Barron Collier’s top pitcher, Kirsti Buchholz.
The Green Wave (13-4, 8-1 district) defeated North 2-0 last Thursday, and fell 1-0 to Collier, in a pitcher’s duel, earlier this season.
The Bulldogs, who have displayed a strong lineup this season, were only able to muster one hit off Buchholz in the loss to Barron Collier and three against Richardson.
“I really think it’s just a mental game,” Klare said. “We’ve overcome a huge mental game beating North and Gulf Coast and Mariner. I think it’s just one step higher. They just have to believe in themselves and focus.”
Sophomore Allie Hare nearly gave the Bulldogs the lead in the top of the first. With two outs, she smacked a double off the wall in right field. The Bulldogs, though, failed to capitalize.
Junior Kayla Vetter kept the Green Wave off the board in three of her four innings, and Jessica Gregorie pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
In the third, Vetter started the inning with a strikeout of Grace Turner, but the ball got away from the catcher, allowing Turner to reach first.
Two batters later, Mason launched a two-run shot to left center, putting the Green Wave up 2-0.
The Green Wave played solid defense in support of Richardson, who worked out of a jam in the sixth.
Christie Larrimore and Jamie Ross had back-to-back singles for the Bulldogs, putting two runners on with no outs, but Richardson bounced back and struck out the Bulldogs’ 3-4-5 hitters.
“We came up with the big plays when we needed them,” Schwochow said. “It’s a tribute to how hard the girls work. When the time comes, they buckle down.”
The Bulldogs (15-3, 7-2) are back in action Friday and Saturday at the Charlotte Tarpon tournament.
They open play Friday against Port Charlotte.
Ida Baker 000 000 0 — 0 3 3
Fort Myers 002 000 x — 2 7 0
W — Lindsay Richardson. L — Kayla Vetter.
2B — Allie Hare (IB). HR — Tori Mason (FM).