Oh My! Thanks To A Bye Spring Hill Adds A State Title

BELLEVIEW - There are those who will insist Spring Hill won this championship on Sunday, and it was by the luck of the draw.

Perhaps. Certainly it played a role. One thing that can't be argued is that when Spring Hill got the bye on Sunday afternoon in a three-team draw, leaving Chipley and Mulberry to play an elimination game before meeting Spring Hill in the final, the pitching scales tipped in its favor.

Particularly with Alexis Adams on the mound.

The Spring Hill hurler was able to work all seven innings in the Belles Division (ages 13-15) of the Dixie Youth League All-Stars State Softball Tournament final late Monday night, and that was bad news for Chipley.

The right-handed Adams limited Chipley to two singles, three walks and a hit batsman while striking out 11 in leading her team to a 3-0 triumph at the Belleview Sports Complex.

Spring Hill (4-1) now moves on to the Dixie League World Series, which begins Aug. 2 in Alexandria, La.

Bye, bye

"The bye," said Chipley coach Curtis Carter. "If they hadn't gotten the bye . . . With them drawing the bye, they could save their pitching. And that one kid carried them."

Carter was talking about Adams, and he was correct. But it wasn't just her pitching that turned the tide in this pivotal contest.

Spring Hill found itself in a drawing for a bye into the state title game because it was clobbered by Chipley 11-1 Sunday. That left three teams with one tournament loss, so, in accordance with Dixie League rules, a drawing was held to decide which two teams would play each other in an elimination game and who would get the bye.

Chipley lost the drawing but hammered Mulberry 13-4 in a rain-delayed elimination game Monday evening.

After a 30-minute break, the Chipley team was back on the field to go up against Spring Hill.

In Sunday's meeting, Chipley got in front first and stayed there.

In Monday's championship, it was Spring Hill that drew first blood, and it was Adams who provided the first big blow.

Spring Hill Head Coach Louie Caiazzo altered his batting line-up for the title game, moving Brooke Sager into the leadoff spot and putting Adams third, and the move paid immediate dividends. Sager walked to start Spring Hill's first inning at the plate and, after Gina Thompson's bunt moved her to second, Adams brought her home with a base hit.

It proved to be the game-winning hit, and it was one of two hits in three appearances for Adams.

"Today we were a different team," said Caiazzo. "You've got to strike first. Yesterday, they got the momentum and kept it. This time, we got it and kept it. We got them down and then held them down with our pitching and defense."

Spring Hill put two more runs on the board in the second inning, and it again started with the first batter in the inning. Shannon Cataldo was hit by a Lindsi Salter offering, and then moved to second on a ground out. With two down, Angie Gaffney's single scored Cataldo to make it 2-0. A stolen base, a walk to Danielle Caban and a passed ball put base runners at second and third; a wild pitch delivered Gaffney with Spring Hill's third run, 3-0.

Riding Adams

It was all the team would need with Adams on the mound.

Her dominance was apparent in the fifth when Chipley's Joanna Peters led off the inning with a base hit. The boisterous contingent of Chipley fans grew even louder, but Adams was equal to the challenge. She struck out the next three batters in quick succession and, although Chipley would put runners on base in the final two innings, Adams did not surrender another hit.

Caiazzo would not dodge that his team was fortunate to draw the bye.

"People are going to say that, and to an extent it's true," Caiazzo remarked. "There's no doubt we would have had to use more (pitching) innings.

"But, and I'm not trying to sound arrogant, but I think if you match us up for one game with anyone in the tournament, we were the best team."

Spring Hill proved it, to be sure, which is why it is headed to the World Series.