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Baron blanks Eagles for 13th
By Tom Williams
STRUTHERS
Shifting gears from a very successful basketball season to a strong start in softball isn’t easy, Struthers pitcher Ashley Baron says.
“Pitching-wise, I was a lot sorer [this spring],” said Baron of the start of her season. “It took me a few games to [get comfortable] with my motions and to get my pitches going again.”
At 13-1, Baron is more than in the groove on the pitching mound. Thursday, the senior ace tossed a three-hitter as the Wildcats (14-3, 4-0 All-American Conference) defeated Hubbard, 6-0, to remain atop the league standings.
“We have a ton of seniors [seven],” said Baron of a trend she detected for her final high school year. “In soccer, we had nine and basketball we had five. We’ve been together since we were young so we are all really close.”
Baron and shortstop Dana Mathews were starters on the basketball team that advanced to the Division II regional final in March. Junior Mandy Ditman, the cleanup hitter, was a key contributor off the bench.
Fourth-year softball coach Anthony Gentile didn’t mind that he didn’t have his full roster practicing until mid-March.
“Five of these seniors I started when they were freshmen and I feel comfortable putting anyone in any position,” said Gentile.
Catcher Nicolette Demyan’s two-out double in the fourth inning scored Wyntre Wilson to end the scoreless tie dominated by Baron and Hubbard’s Brianna Kelly.
“She’s consistent,” said Demyan of Baron. “Her riseballs make me nervous some time but I get them.”
The Eagles’ (7-8, 0-2) best scoring chance came in the fifth inning when Kelly singled and Chelsea Callow advanced on an error. Devan Zelonish hit Baron’s 0-1 pitch to deep center field where Jackie Deem raced back and made a leaping grab on the warning track. Then she threw to Mathews covering second base to double off the courtesy runner.
“It scared me,” said Baron of Zelonish’s swing. “It was an amazing catch — I thought it might go over.”
Deem admitted that her run to the ball “was a little nerve-wracking but I felt pretty confident that I had it.”
In Struthers’ next at-bat, Baron reached on an error that allowed Katie Jordon to score for a 2-0 lead. A walk, three hits and a hit-batsman produced four runs in the sixth inning.
In the seventh, Kelly hit a two-out double for Hubbard’s only extra-base hit.
Gentile called Baron “a warrior. She has good control and works the corners very well. She throws a real nice riseball that you see a lot of foul tips when they catch up to it.”
Baron likes the activity.
“I like being in control of the game. If something goes wrong, it’s my fault,” Baron said. “It keeps me busy — I’m not just standing there, I’m always doing something.”