Ansonia junior Abby Kramer struck out seven and only allowed one run in the conference game against Bradford. With the help from her defense, she was able to get out of a few late-game jams to seal the win.
Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
ANSONIA — It was a close battle at Ansonia High School between the Lady Tigers and the Lady Railroaders of Bradford on April 4. Both starting pitchers went the distance and kept their team in the game. Ansonia squeaked out a 2-1 win over Bradford for their second conference win of the season.
Ansonia head coach Floyd Jenkins said the team remained calm on defense when Bradford had runners in scoring position. They made some plays to get the win in this low-scoring affair.
“(During the) later innings, the girls kept their composure. They had bases loaded and they get out of the jam. Same way with two outs in the inning before that. Our first baseman Ava Thatcher made a couple big defensive plays. I’m real pleased with how the girls are coming along,” Jenkins said.
Ansonia scored both runs in the bottom of the third inning. Junior Brenna Schmit and freshman Ava Thatcher both brought in a run. Schmit drove in her run on a RBI triple.
As a team, the Lady Tigers had five hits and walked twice. Bradford senior Izzy Hamilton was on the mound going up against the Lady Tiger lineup. Bradford head coach Shon Shaffer said Hamilton had a great performance even with her defense not having a perfect day.
“I just told her that was her best outing of the season so far. Defense let her down a little bit, put too many runners on,” Shaffer said.
Hamilton had eight strikeouts in the six innings she pitched. In her last two games, Hamilton has 18 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched.
On the other side, Ansonia junior Abby Kramer continues to be a force on the mound. In the last three games, Kramer has 25 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched. She finished this game with seven strikeouts and let up two hits.
Jenkins said Kramer has been getting stronger as the season goes along. That also goes for the whole pitching staff.
“She’s doing a fine job and so are our other pitchers we got. You haven’t seen much of them, but we have a pretty good staff,” Jenkins said.
The Lady Railroaders did make solid contact throughout the game, but couldn’t find the gaps. The hitters did have good plate appearances as they drew five walks.
Shaffer said the contact the team is making will eventually result in hits.
“I thought we made really good contact, it was just at people too much. Those hits will fall eventually. I thought we made good contact against a girl who throws pretty hard,” Shaffer said.
Ansonia will look to get their third WOAC win of the season and their fifth overall on April 6 as they travel to Twin Valley South.
Bradford will host WOAC rival Tri-County North on April 6 as they look to continue to take steps forward. Shaffer said with seven new starters playing, the team is taking little steps at a time each game so far this season.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
