43
Bush’s grand slam powers Poland
Bush’s towering, first-inning shot propels
Poland to victory over AAC rival Fitch
By Steve WILAJ
POLAND
Poland coach Matt Campbell realizes the potential of his senior first baseman Chloe Bush.
“When she’s clicking, she hits the ball really, really hard,” he said. “It’s just about keeping her on the ball and not pulling off, because she’s a strong girl with a really good swing.”
Bush certainly stayed on the ball in her first at-bat against Austintown Fitch on Wednesday. As a result, Campbell’s praise was right on target.
Paced by Bush’s monster first-inning grand slam, the Bulldogs defeated Fitch, 6-1, at Poland. The righty unloaded the bases with a towering shot that landed far beyond the left-field fence and inside the playground that sits behind the wall.
“It was an inside pitch and I just took it to left,” Bush said. “It was exciting seeing my team all there — it was our first home run of the season. I think we built off of it and the rest of the game we were confident.”
Bush’s homer followed an RBI single by Jenna Schettler, as Poland (6-2) took an early 5-0 lead against its All-American Conference rival. That was more than enough support for Bulldogs pitcher Ally Deemer.
The senior tossed a complete game — striking out 13 and allowing four hits in seven innings.
“She’s been lights-out so far this year,” Campbell said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less. She’s been in a groove and when she’s on and locating all of her pitches, she’s tough to hit.”
The Falcons (1-3) learned that the hard way. They scored their lone run on Alex Franken’s fourth-inning home run.
“We just let too many good pitches go and we swung at some bad pitches,” Fitch coach Steve Ward said. “But that’s maturity and we’ll grow.
“It was a tough start. They had some good hits that dropped in and then I didn’t call the right pitch and their girl T-boned it. She did a great job turning on the ball.”
Bush paced Poland with three hits and four RBIs, while Brielle Nocera also notched three hits and an RBI. In all, the Bulldogs had nine hits as they knocked Falcons starter Franken from the contest after three innings.
“We had some real good at-bats there in the bottom of the first,” Campbell said. “We’re playing pretty good defense and we’ve had solid pitching, but I still feel we can hit the ball better. I’m hoping that will come in the next few games since we have some tough ones coming up.”
Sierra Pierce followed Franken to log three scoreless innings of relief for Fitch. She also recorded a single, as did Brianna Protain and Leeanna Franken.
“I was really pleased that we only gave up one run after that first inning,” Ward said. “We kept fighting and getting some base runners. But similar to Monday against Ursuline, we’re still leaving them on. We still have a lot of room to grow and get better.”