North Harrison unleashed three hurlers Saturday at the Bill Hill Memorial Tournament in Albany and ran the table against three quality teams. Any one of the eight teams participating could have won it, but Coach Brandon Craig had the luxury of using three different pitchers, two of whom nobody had seen before this year. They only gave up four runs for the entire tournament. Carly Rinehart, Ashlynn Gilpatrick, and Payton Craig all pitched dominating performances; the scary thing about that is that Rinehart is only a freshman and Gilpatrick is only a sophomore.
North Harrison 6, Albany 1
Seeded second, North Harrison first took on Albany. The Warriors are a tough out for anyone facing them; most of their girls are really small, making for a tiny strike zone and a difficult time for a lot of enemy pitchers. But North Harrison’s freshman hurler Carly Rinehart had no problem locating her pitches; she didn’t walk a single Warrior batter all day. She had strong fielding behind her, and that gave her the confidence to put the ball in play.
Payton Craig had a long battle with Albany’s pitcher Madalyn Rainey and walked to start off the first; she stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Brandi Rivet’s fly ball to center to make it 1-0.
North Harrison added to their lead in the third. Brandi Rivet hit a pop fly that dropped into left field for a base hit. Mason Cracraft successfully bunted her over to second. Emma Craig popped out to Lauryn Shoush at short, but Audrey Briggs doubled to the wall in right center to score Rivet. She tried to stretch a double into a triple, but was thrown out. Photographic evidence shows she was safe at third, but the umpire saw it differently.
In the fourth, a pair of strong defensive plays kept Albany off the board. First, with one out, shortstop Payton Craig tracked down a pop fly hit by Lulu Brown that dropped in a dead spot between the mound and short. That frequently turns into a base hit, but Craig threw a laser to first to get her out by half a step. Then, Gabby Newman hit a triple to left that rolled to the wall, 250 feet away. Newman then got picked off third and into a rundown. It is the well-known “pickle play;” frequently, less disciplined teams struggle with that, especially with an elusive runner like Newman. But six Shamrock fielders converged on the play and there were six different throws made before Newman was tagged out. Instead of 2-1 or 2-2, North Harrison was still up 2-0.
North Harrison finally broke it open in the fourth. Ashlynn Gilpatrick walked and Sally Briggs turned on a change and shot it into center for a hit. Carly Rinehart grounded into what could have been a force, but Gilpatrick beat it out and the bases were loaded for Payton Craig. That is usually the death knell for opposing teams, and sure enough, Payton Craig shot one into the left field corner for a bases clearing three run triple to make it 5-0. She came home on a wild pitch to make it 6-0.
Albany got some good swings off Rinehart in the fifth and sixth, with nothing to show for it. First, Rainey Fordyce caught a screamer from Riley Houts in right to take away extra bases. Then, in the sixth, after she moved to center, she was there for a running catch to take extra bases away from Amber Davis. Then, Rinehart snagged a line drive from Shoush to take a base hit away from her.
Albany finally made some noise in the seventh when Madalyn Rainey doubled down the right field line, stole third, and came home on Lulu Brown’s groundout. Gabby Newman reached on an error on an uncalled pop fly, then second baseman Mason Cracraft tried to tag Newman on a grounder from Michaela Martin and missed to put runners on first and second. Riley Houts flied out to advance them, but Taylor Bain grounded out to end the threat and the game. To their credit, while North Harrison made a couple of errors in the inning, they didn’t let it snowball on them like in the Platte Valley loss.
North Harrison 12, Gallatin 1
Gallatin has had quality teams for many years. “They have a lot of players who work hard during the summer and play the game the right way,” said Coach Craig. But once again, North Harrison broke through in the fourth inning and broke the game wide open to put the Bulldogs away.
The Bulldogs tried to stop Payton Craig by putting their left fielder next to the wall in the left field corner, but she popped one down the line in left and made it to second anyway to lead off the first. Brandi Rivet struck out – a rare called third strike as she was fooled by a slow change. But Mason Cracraft doubled off the wall in left to bring Craig home. Audry Briggs’ pop fly single dropped in and the throw home kept Cracraft at third – but allowed Briggs to go to second. Emma Craig grounded out to short and Briggs was thrown out at third afterwards, but not before Cracraft crossed the plate to give North Harrison the 2-0 lead after one.
On the other side, Coach Craig sent Ashlynn Gilpatrick to the mound to stop the powerhouse Gallatin team; the sophomore hurler missed all of last year (ACL), but didn’t skip a beat Saturday, keeping the Bulldogs off the board except for the fifth inning. The fielding was solid behind her, and she was able to throw everything for strikes, knowing there were eight other players behind her. The fourth inning particularly pleased Coach Craig, since she retired Gallatin 1-2-3 with just five pitches.
North Harrison had to battle two injuries before and during the Gallatin game. There was a scary moment before the game, when outfielder Hunter Stevens was plunked in the face by a foul ball while warming up during the Princeton-Albany game; she will be OK. The second was in the fifth inning. Mason Cracraft, with a hot bat, singled hard to left and Audrey Briggs singled as well and the left fielder let it get by her. But Cracraft stumbled around second while headed to third and made it there, but was done for the day (hamstring) as Briggs took second.
Emma Craig shot a single up the middle to score Lola Breshears (running for Cracraft); Briggs scored on a wild pitch as Craig took second on the play. Ashlynn Gilpatrick then stretched a single into a double to score Craig to finish Gallatin pitcher Karley Salmon and bring on Caragan Baker for the Bulldogs.
Kami Gibson was hit by a pitch and Olivia Babinski (running for Gilpatrick) beat out a force at third to load the bases as Sally Briggs reached on the fielder’s choice. Carly Rinehart grounded into a force at home, but Payton Craig flied out to score Babinski. Brandi Rivet beat out an infield hit score Gibson; Rainey Fordyce (running for Briggs) was out at home trying to go from second to home on the play, but the damage was done as five runs came home that inning to make it 7-0.
Gallatin got their lone tally in the top of the fifth. With two outs, Maelea Coulson shot a single past short and third and Hannah Miller (running for Coulson) went to second on a wild pitch. She scored on a dropped fly ball, North Harrison’s lone error of the game.
The Gallatin shortstop threw away a grounder to put Lola Breshears on first to start the fifth. Audrey Briggs forced Breshears at second, but then the shortstop dropped a force play at second as Emma Craig reached safely. Ashlynn Gilpatrick singled to right as Briggs scored. The cutoff throw got away, but not far enough and Emma Craig was thrown out at home as Briggs went to third with two outs. But it didn’t matter as the next four Shamrocks got hits. Kami Gibson singled to left to score Olivia Babinski (running for Gilpatrick). Rainey Fordyce, who had helped North Harrison with her glove all day, did so with her bat and her pop fly single put runners on first and second. Carly Rinehart doubled into the gap in left center field to score Gibson, putting runners on second and third.
Once again, it was up to Payton Craig to strike the death blow and she did. She had hit several screamers that game that had all landed just barely foul; apparently, Carlton Fisk was not there to waive them fair like he did back during the 1975 World Series. But this time, she finally landed one fair down the left field line that scored Fordyce and Rinehart to end the game on the 10-run rule.
North Harrison 6, King City 1
King City changed things up as, instead of sending Grace Schottel out against North Harrison, they pitched Abigail Rapp in an effort to keep North Harrison’s vaunted hitting off balance, while North Harrison saved Payton Craig for the final game. They moved the fleet-footed Schottel to left to chase down any long drives Craig or any other Shamrock better would hit out there.
King City’s plans worked for three innings, but once again, the fourth was magic for North Harrison. King City got a two out rally when the umpire started calling a stingy strike zone for Payton Craig and Abigail Rapp walked. She stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored when Dakota Goucher beat out third baseman Ashlynn Gilpatrick on a grounder to score her. North Harrison trailed for the first time all tournament, 1-0.
It looked like it might stand up; King City, who had beaten favored Stanberry, had a well-oiled machine. In the second, King City had a chance to connect on another two out rally as Victoria Washburn walked and took second on a wild pitch. Payton Craig kept fighting the strike zone and got to 3-2 on Madeline Saunders. But then coach Brandon Craig called timeout and talked to her without any of the fielders coming in. Whatever he said settled her down, as she solved the umpire’s stingy strike zone and didn’t walk another batter the rest of the game.
It looked like it might be in vain despite North Harrison’s best efforts. Kami Gibson hit a screamer in the gap in the second, but Washburn, a freshman, was there to run it down. Grace Schottel was up in the third to lead off for King City and hit a tough grounder to Brandi Rivet at short, but Rivet threw a laser beam to first to get her by half a step. North Harrison tried to make noise in the third as Carli Rinehart singled to right center. But Rainey Fordyce hit a screamer right to Rapp, who doubled off Rinehart for a double play. That loomed up strongly as Payton Craig hit a shot down the right field line – for the first time all year – for a double. Brandi Rivet hit a grounder up the first base line that would have been trouble against a lot of teams. But King City pulled off the 3-4 play, with the second baseman coming over to cover first to end that threat.
In the fourth, Dakota Goucher hit a shot off Gilpatrick’s glove at third to get on safely. Alexia Sweiger ran for her and King City tried to manufacture a run to add to their lead. But then freshman catcher Emma Craig made a big-time play as she shot her down stealing throwing out her crouch to erase the threat. Later, Sage Howard squibbed one down the third base line, but Payton Craig came off the mound, grabbed it, and threw a laser to first for the out.
Once again, it looked like the well-oiled King City machine would keep North Harrison at bay as the 3-4 play got Briggs out at first to start. But all of a sudden, Emma Craig hit a shot right at Rapp on the mound. She stuck her glove up, but somehow, it found its way past Rapp and into center field for a hit. She took second and third on wild pitches with Ashlynn Gilpatrick up.
Gilpatrick hit a grounder for what should have been North Harrison's second out. But the ball took a crazy hop on the second baseman and bounded into right as Craig scored. That opened the floodgates as once again, the fourth inning was big for North Harrison. Kami Gibson shot one up the middle for a hit and Sally Briggs reached on a fielder’s choice as King City tried unsuccessfully to pick Gilpatrick off third. Carly Rinehart hit a shot off the shortstop’s glove that could have been a double play, but instead, bounded into left for a base hit and the tiebreaking run to put North Harrison up 2-1. Rainey Fordyce hit a pop fly into center field, the center fielder couldn’t come up with a shoestring catch, and one more run scored. Payton Craig shot one between third and short to score two more and make it 5-1.
Emma Craig got lucky in the fifth as she swung at strike three in the dirt and reached when it got back to the screen. She stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and Ashlynn Gilpatrick had a long battle with Rapp before grounding out to short to score Craig. “We got better plate discipline as the game progressed,” said Coach Brandon Craig. “We played well and pitched well. One hit just fed off another for us today.”
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