There is no need to use algorithms, hieroglyphics or lengthy mathematical formulas to figure this one out.
The answer
is simple . . .
Chandler
Hamilton has got Xavier Prep’s number.
No matter
what Xavier has tried to do against Hamilton on the softball field this spring,
very little has worked. It’s one of those things – a team can beat virtually
anyone else in the world except for this particular foe.
The first
time was on April 6, when Hamilton handed the Gators their first loss of the
season, 6-4, at XCP’s Petznick Field.
The second
time on Monday (April 26) was even more decisive when Hamilton unleashed 14
hits, four of them home runs, to account for Xavier’s second loss, 13-7, at
Hamilton.
It appeared initially that Xavier
(11-2) might drop from the top spot on the Arizona
Interscholastic Association’s power points list, but the Gators remained No. 1 on Tuesday (April 27) and again on Wednesday (April 28). Hamilton (12-5) now has won nine in a row in a streak that began with the first win at Xavier. The Huskies climbed briefly to No. 2 on Tuesday before settling in at No. 4 on Wednesday behind Queen Creek and Phoenix Sunnyslope.
It appeared that the Gators might be able to avoid a sweep when they scored three runs right off the bat in the first inning on a two-run homer by junior Bridget Donahey and a solo shot by senior Macy Lee for a 3-0 lead. The inning was then cut short when an XCP baserunner was caught in a rundown between second base and shortstop.
Hamilton got
those runs back and then some with six runs in the second. Kelly Downs led off
the inning with a home run and Kate Vance slugged a three-run homer to fan the
flames against Xavier junior ace Riley Flynn.
Xavier tied
it at 6 in the third on an RBI single by Donahey off an infielder’s glove, and
a two-run single to left-center by junior Elliot Smith on the first pitch she
saw.
The Hamilton
lead went to 8-6 in the fourth and 13-7 in the fifth. Flynn gave Xavier its
seventh run when she led off the top of the fifth with a homer.
The Gators
did not help their cause with five errors, including a costly one in the second
when the shortstop and second baseman brushed against each other and allowed a
pop fly to drop near second base. That would have been the third out of the
inning, but Vance, the next better, connected for the three-run homer.
In the
third, a Gator baserunner was called out at third base when it was ruled that
she interfered with the third baseman’s attempt to catch the ball on a sharply
hit line drive along the foul line, the two making slight contact.
Donahey and
Lee led the Gators with three hits each and Smith had two.
Xavier
travels to Mesa on Thursday (April 29) for a game at Westwood.
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