TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Hernando Today

Welcome to the Adams Family

Photo by JOE DiCRISTOFALO

Spring Hill catcher Brooke Sager, left, leaps into the arms of her battery mate, pitcher Alexis Adams, after the final out against Chipley Monday night in Belleview.

ADVERTISEMENT

By C.J. RISAK

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: July 7, 2008

Unlike its game against the same Chipley team on Sunday, Spring Hill's Belles (ages 13-15) All-Stars got everything it needed in Monday's Dixie League Softball State Tournament Final at the Belleview Sports Complex.
And a large portion of it was provided by Alexis Adams.
Adams, who will be a freshman at Nature Coast Technical High School this fall, completely dominated Chipley in the title contest, pitching all seven innings in the 3-0 shutout. She surrendered just two hits, three walks and a hit batsman, and she struck out 11.
"She's got the heart of a lion," said her Spring Hill coach, Louie Caiazzo. "She's fiery and she pitches with attitude. I've been saying it all along, with all good teams it starts with pitching, and today our pitching was a gem."
Although her performance was overwhelming -- she also had two hits, singling in the game's first run in the opening inning -- Adams deferred to her team rather than take much credit.
"Today, our team played really well," she said. "I couldn't do that without my team.
"We hit the ball, we made no errors and we cheered really hard for each other."
It was evident early on that this was not the same Spring Hill squad that was routed by Chipley 11-1 in a five-inning mercy Sunday. That one-sided loss seemed to serve as a wake-up call.
"We were all talking at the hotel last night, and we knew yesterday just wasn't our day," Adams said. "We knew they would hit the ball, I was just counting on my team to make the plays (in the field)."
Collecting 11 of the 21 outs necessary on strikeouts had to help her team's cause.
But Spring Hill's defense deserved its fair share of the credit as well; after committing four errors in Sunday's 11-1 loss, Spring Hill played error-free in the field.
"After (Sunday's) game, the girls were a bit down," said Caiazzo. "But they talked it over and everyone got on board."
On board a cruise ship piloted by Adams, who proved pivotal in guiding Spring Hill to a berth in the Dixie League World Series, beginning Aug. 2 in Alexandria, La.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT