TodayBulldogs outlast Hounds
Shoap lifts Big Spring with a two-run double in the seventh
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Michael Bupp/The Sentinel
Big Spring’s Andrea Shannon, left, beats the throw to second as Shippensburg’s Brooke Varner makes the catch in the Bulldogs’ 3-1 victory at Shippensburg High School on Thursday.
Shippensburg softball coach Bobby Davis couldn’t have put his 3-1 loss to Mid-Penn Colonial Division opponent and backyard rival Big Spring any better.
“If you let a team hang around, they’re going to win the game,” Davis said. “Without a question, the better team won tonight.”
The Greyhounds (3-3, 2-1 Mid-Penn Colonial) staked out a 1-0 lead after the third inning, but in the form of a mistake-prone defense (four errors) and an inefficient offense (four hits), Ship let the Bulldogs hang around.
And like Davis predicted, Big Spring eventually did come around.
Eager to end her team’s long history of losing tight games to the Lady Hounds, Big Spring catcher and No. 9 batter Kami Shoap stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the final inning with the game deadlocked in a 1-1 tie.
“All I could think about during that at-bat was ‘please just hit the ball,’” said Shoap.
After working the count to 2-1 against Ship pitcher Megan Myers (five hits, five strikeouts, two walks), Shoap did hit the ball ” slicing a double just inside the right field line to score a pair of runs to put her team ahead 3-1.
Big Spring (3-3, 3-1 Mid-Penn Colonial) burst into celebration after Bulldog starter Kayla Shoap, Kami’s twin sister, sat the Lady Hounds down in 1-2-3 fashion to end the game.
“I’m making her take me out for ice cream,” Kami said with a laugh. “Kayla did a good job tonight, she knows how to hit the corners and work the batters.”
Kayla Shoap, with her sister calling the game behind the plate, allowed just four hits, struck out six and allowed zero earned runs.
“I don’t hate her anymore since she got that game-winning hit,” Kayla said jokingly about her twin. “It’s amazing to come here and beat Shippensburg.
“I think we have an awesome team that just needs to mesh a little bit more.”
The Lady Hounds jumped ahead 1-0 on an RBI single from Ship shortstop Brooke Varner in the third inning, but the Bulldogs hung in there, eventually forcing a tie game in the sixth inning.
With one out, Big Spring’s Jess Beecher punched a single up the middle, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error from the Lady Hound catcher. The next batter, Andrea Kelso, pushed Beecher across the plate with a run-scoring groundout.
“I’m proud of the girls, they worked very hard and never gave up,” said Bulldog coach Steve Calaman. “We only had five hits, but we got our runs when we needed them.”
The opportunistic Big Spring squad then took advantage of a few Shippensburg mistakes ” an error, two walks, and a fielder going to the wrong place with a fielder’s choice throw ” to load the bases in the seventh.
After teammate Keirsten Singer went down swinging for the second out, Kami Shoap came to the plate and delivered the game’s decisive blow.
“We have a powerful team,” said Kami. “If we keep things up, I think we’ll do well this year.”
The Big Spring victory left coach Davis scratching his head.
“I don’t think Big Spring has ever won against me before,” Davis said. “People we expected to come through just aren’t coming through yet.
“Give Big Spring credit, they played hard, never gave up and they kept us off-balance.”
