Emma Baldwin Saves NEN from Defeat With Base Hit; Young Tigers Show Promise

Down to her team’s final strike, Emma Baldwin battled and battled and finally got a two out two run single to score two runs, tie the score up at 7 against Worth County, and save Northeast Nodaway from defeat Thursday. Incoming freshman Jill Hardy took the mound for the 5th and 6th, starting off the latter inning by getting Blair Stoll to chase a head-high pitch. Paige West, a promising freshman for Northeast, beat out an infield single and Maggie Schmitz reached as Kristin New dropped a pop fly in shallow right field and West scrambled to second just ahead of the force play. Summer Swalley hit a high chopper to Hardy on the mound, but Makayla Adwell walked on four pitches, bringing up Baldwin.

The Maryville catcher, who plays summer ball with Northeast along with Swalley, got down 0-2 in the count to Hardy, only to foul one into the ball bucket in the Worth County dugout. She took one pitch high, fouled off another, and then knocked one into center with Worth County up 7-5. That tied up the game at 7. Emily Redden and Cami Adwell walked to force in a run and put Northeast up 8-7.
Hardy led off with a grounder to Makayla Adwell at short. Her throw was high, but Paige West pulled it down; it was one of at least three errors West saved her teammates that evening. Kaylee McElvain grounded out to Adwell, but Merrideth Spiers walked on four pitches to bring up Haley Hunt with the winning run.

NEN pitcher Maggie Schmitz missed with the next two pitches, but then got back to 2-2 on Hunt. For the second time all night, she threw a deadly change, Hunt swung, and Adwell caught the pop fly over her shoulder for the third out.

Worth County, whose summer team is partly composed of last year’s varsity players along with a lot of incoming freshmen, has a lot to look forward to. Returning pitcher Haley Hunt returns from shoulder surgery which sidelined her from basketball, while Braidy Hunt and Jill Hardy showed themselves to be capable pitchers as well. Allison Larison came in as catcher for the last two innings and stopped everything in sight.

Emily Redden’s single in the first put Northeast up 2-0, but Merrideth Spiers hit what looked like a routine grounder to third baseman Emily Redden in the bottom of the first. But it bounded eight feet high in the air before it reached her and bounded into left field for a three run double that put Worth County up 3-2 after one.

Northeast went back in front 5-3 in the top of the second after Summer Swalley’s walk forced in a run and Makayla Adwell’s two run double scored two more. But Morgan Beagle came home on a wild pitch to make it 5-4 in the bottom of the second and Jill Hardy reached on an error to score Anna Spainhower to tie it at 5 in the third.

Worth County moved ahead 7-5 in the fifth when Megan Cassavaugh grounded out to score Allison Larison and Braidy Hunt reached on an error to score Spainhower. But Maggie Schmitz went to her slow change for the first time all night to freeze Kaylee McElvain for the third out to get out of the inning.