Friday, April 16, 2010
Photo
Canfield ace Carlee Hart (15) pitches to Sabrina Long of Niles during a game Thursday in Niles. The Cardinals defeated the Red Dragons, 7-0, for Hart’s fifth win of the season — and her first no-hitter.
By Jon Moffett
NILES
Junior pitcher Carlee Hart and her Canfield teammates treated the final out of Thursday’s 7-0 victory over Niles as if it were the last out of the third inning.
The only problem was, the Cardinals had just defeated a one-loss team, and Hart had just tossed a no-hitter.
“It feels great,” a somewhat subdued Hart said after earning her fifth win of the year. “This was my first no-hitter of the year, and I’ve been working toward it. I’ve had a couple of one-hitters, but hadn’t had a no-hitter yet this year.”
Hart (5-1) had 10 strikeouts and held the Red Dragons (10-2) at bay with the help of a solid defense.
The Cardinals (6-3) made several big plays on defense to keep the no-hit bid alive. Coach Ronie Haurin said while it’s a common practice to ignore a potential no-hitter, she and Hart both knew it was possible.
“We actually have been putting someone in to relieve in the last couple of innings recently, and our pitchers know if they have a no-hitter we don’t do that,” Haurin said. “So I’m sure she knew, but we don’t like to talk about it and put a jinx on it.”
But as the daylight waned, and the outs mounted, Hart fought through the Red Dragon lineup. Niles coach Eric Jones said there wasn’t much his team could do against a pitcher who was having such a dominating performance.
“She just goes out there and does what she is paid to do, I guess you could say,” he said. “She’s their ace pitcher, and she sticks to what makes them the ace. She’s a good rise-ball pitcher and she stuck with that. The problem is we didn’t make the adjustments.”
Hart credited her teammates and their ability to fly to the ball. She said every fly and ground ball resulted in an out because of their unselfishness.
“Our team does a great job on defense, and it’s easy when they hit the ball and you know that your team is behind you,” Hart said. “We work really hard on defense in practice. We really hustle and it helps.”
That defense was on display in the bottom of the fifth inning. Niles junior Olivia Devorich was robbed of a potential extra-base hit when Canfield senior Brianna Sturgeon snagged a snow cone catch in left field.
“[Hart] pitched a flawless game tonight, but the outfield made some nice plays, we had some nice plays at second base and certainly our infield always backs her up,” Haurin said. “And when you know you have that solid defense, it makes it a lot easier when you’re on the mound.”
Hart helped her own cause with the bat. She went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
Teammate Melanie West, a junior, also had a good night at the plate. West had two hits, two RBIs and scored a run. She would have had three hits, but was robbed of at least a single by a diving Sabrina Long catch in the third inning.
Jones said he isn’t necessarily worried about his team’s performance. He said it’s just a small bump in a long season.
“I have no doubt that our attitude was good today, and our approach to the game was very good,” he said. “But the big thing that I want to see from this point on is the adjustments we make in these pressure situations and games.”
Comprised mostly of seniors and juniors, the Red Dragons are a veteran team. Jones said he hopes that experience will serve his squad well come tournament time.
“When we get into league games, there’s no room for error,” he said. “You’ve got to hit the ball clean, you’ve got to hit hard, run the bases hard and give it your all every play.”
Jones said the worst thing about the loss is that he and his team will have to wait 48 hours to play again.
“That’s going to drive some of them absolutely batty, which is something that I like to see,” he said.