Lady Indians crush Martinsburg and St. Maria

An explosive offense and the strong pitching by Natalie Redick lifted the Berkeley Springs High School to a pair of easy wins over St. Maria Goretti, 27-0 and Martinsburg, 14-3, last week.

The Indians started the week with the 27-0 thrashing of Goretti in five innings on March 26 in Hagerstown.
Berkeley Springs scored five runs in both the second and third innings, and then put the game completely out of reach with a 16-run explosion in the fourth. The Indians added a run in the fifth, while Redick did the rest on her way to a two-hit shutout.

The Tribe pasted the Gael pitching for 22 hits. Skylar Kroschinsky led the way with five hits, three runs and five RBIs. Stephanie Miller, Rikki Jenkins and Taylor Stull had three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs each, Brittney Stotler had three hits, two runs scored and a RBI, while Redick helped her own cause with two hits, four runs scored and four RBI.

One of Stull's three hits was a home run.

Redick went five innings for her second win of the year. She allowed no runs on two hits, striking out six and walking one.

The Indians won their second road game of the week two days later when they defeated Martinsburg 14-3.
Kroschinsky had another big game with four hits, three runs scored and two RBIs, but she wasn't the only Indian swinging a big stick. Stull had three hits, including a triple, with two runs scored and five RBIs, Dallis Bishop had a single, a double with two runs scored and a RBI, Stotler had a pair of singles and a RBI, while Redick had a single, a double, one run scored and a RBI.

The Indians scored twice in the first inning, three in the second and four in the third to take a 9-2 lead and then added a single run in the fourth and four more in the seventh, while Martinsburg scored their final run in the fifth.

Redick went the distance allowing three runs on five hits. She struck out seven and walked six.
"It's not a big secret that Goretti is a weaker opponent, but with wins being scarce the last couple of years we'll take it," Berkeley Springs Coach Greg Brown said of Berkeley Springs victory to open the week. “The fourth inning was a mess. You hate to tell your girls not to be aggressive, but you get trapped in an inning like that and you just want to get out of it."

Although Brown was almost apologetic about his team’s manhandling of Goretti, he was encouraged by the pasting of Martinsburg.

"This was a big win for us; a big boost for our confidence," Brown said of the victory over the Bulldogs. “I can't remember the last time we beat Martinsburg. It's been several years. Our defense was solid, even though we committed three errors. They weren't the killer ones where an opponent scores a bunch of runs when the inning should have been over. We made mistakes and then got ourselves out of it, and took advantage of some opportunities. In the second inning with the score 2-1 our first two batters made an out, then Steph Miller got hit by a pitch. Skylar singled and Taylor tripled to score Steph and Skylar. Brittney Stotler followed with a run-scoring single and we scored three runs with two outs. The two-out runs are a killer for the opponent. We scored four more in the third to take a big lead and you could see the confidence in our girls begin to grow. Our offense really came through. Natalie had an uncharacteristic six walks, but she picked a good night for it, because of our 16 hits and solid defense."

Though the week started with a bang it ended in a whimper as the Tribe lost to Moorefield on Thursday and two games to Petersburg on Saturday, March 31.

Moorefield handed the Indians an 11-0 loss in four innings. The Yellow Jackets scored three runs in each of the first three innings and then added five more in the fourth, while holding the Indians to no runs on two hits.

Redick started and was tagged with the loss. Rhiannon Coble worked the final two innings for Berkeley Springs.

Moorefield collected thirteen hits, five off Redick and eight off of Coble. Moorefield also picked up eight walks of the two Indian hurlers.

Kroschinksy and Morgan Wachter had the two hits for Berkeley Springs.

"Moorefield is a very good all around team," conceded Brown. “Even though they are single A, I would say they are one of the best teams we will face this year. They have very good pitching, play solid defense and hit the ball as good as anyone. One positive we can take from this game was our ability to put the ball in play. We weren't timid or afraid at the plate. We took cuts, but they (Moorefield) made all the plays."

The Lady Indians ended the week with a double-header against Petersburg on Saturday, dropping both ends of a double header to the visiting Vikings.

Petersburg won the opening game 15-0 in three innings and then took the nightcap 6-1.
The Lady Vikings scored four runs in the first inning of game one, capped off with a two-run home run off of Berkeley Springs starting pitcher, Coble. Petersburg added three runs in the second and eight in the third to complete the three-inning win.

Bishop had two of Berkeley Springs three hits, while Stotler had the other.

"This was one of the worst games I've been associated with at BSHS," said Brown. “We honestly looked - and the players would agree - like the first day of practice. Dropping fly balls in our glove, not hitting the cutoffs, not covering bases, not covering bunts; it was just a total defensive meltdown. I felt bad for Rhiannon, who had been struggling with her control. She only allowed one walk, but the defense provided no support and offensively she got very little help."

Berkeley Springs played better in game two, but still came out on the short end of a 6-1 verdict.
The game was tied at 1-1 until Petersburg scored a single run in the fourth to take a one-run lead, then added three more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth for the final margin of victory.

Redick, who started and went the distance on the mound, had the lone RBI for Berkeley Springs. Redick tied the game with a run-scoring double in the second inning. Stotler, Destinee Moore and Bishop had the other hits for Berkeley Springs.

Redick allowed six runs on 13 hits. She struck out two and did not walk a batter.

"Between games we had a little discussion as a team and I told them my concerns," said Brown. We were all on the same page and we all agreed that the first game was a nightmare. We asked them to get their heads on straight during the twenty minute break and come back ready to play a better game and they did. We had a much better performance defensively. Petersburg is a very aggressive base running team and they put us in a couple of situations we weren't ready for. I take responsibility for that. There are certain bunt coverage situations that we haven't covered yet. I can't expect the girls to perform it if I haven't addressed it in practice. We still have a lot to go over, especially with so many girls learning new positions. I think we felt better after the second game, even though you should never feel good about losing. But, it was a whole lot better than the the game-one circus.”

Berkeley Springs, 3-7 on the year, plays a double header at Mercersburg today, April 4, will participate in the Gene Baker Tournament on April 6 and 7, before heading to Washington for a double header on April 10.