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‘Chip on her shoulder’

Lucas pitches Fredonia to win over Thunderbirds

By Matt Spielman 5 min read

MAYVILLE -- Saturday afternoon's nonleague tilt is the type of game Fredonia and Chautauqua Lake will have to win if they want to advance deep into their respective sectional playoff brackets later this spring.

The Hillbillies came out on top of a pitchers' duel that featured 32 combined strikeouts.

Fredonia sophomore Jordan Lucas threw a complete-game three-hitter with 13 strikeouts as the Hillbillies handed the Thunderbirds their first loss of the season 3-0.

"Today's the first day I saw her pitch with a chip on her shoulder," Fredonia head coach Jesse Beers said of Lucas. "We've been talking about the mental aspect of the game. Instead of trying to find your way, act like you own the circle out there. Today, I saw that."

Chautauqua Lake junior Olivia Herrington pitched well in her own right, allowing just four hits while striking out 19.

"Both of us wanted to see each other's pitchers and go from there," Chautauqua Lake head coach Sue Teets said. "It was a good ballgame. I couldn't ask for anything else."

Fredonia scored the only run it would end up needing in the top of the third inning when Sarah Davis led off by reaching on an error and went to second when the throw got away from the Thunderbirds' first baseman. Two batters later, Lucas hit an RBI single up the middle to plate Davis.

The Hillbillies tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh inning. Nevaeh Zadzilka led off the inning with a four-pitch walk before Erin Schrantz worked a full-count walk. Seventh-grader Callie Draggett then picked up her first varsity hit with a push bunt, but Zadzilka was thrown out at the plate trying to go from second to home on the play.

After a wild pitch and a strikeout, No. 9 hitter Kyleigh Waterman hit a two-run double to left field.

"We have a pretty good lineup top to bottom," Beers said. "Some teams kind of fall off once you get down to the bottom of the order. Today, we had a huge hit out of our No. 9 hitter.

"It changed the complexion of the game at that point," Beers added. "When you are only up one going into the seventh, funny things can happen. If you are up three, it's a totally different mindset."

That was plenty for Lucas, who allowed just five base runners all day and never two in one inning.

"She's a proud girl. She puts the work in. That girl grinds," Beers said of Lucas. "She's softball 12 months out of the year. I'm glad she's on our team for the next three years."

Chautauqua Lake got a runner to third base in the first inning and never past first after that. Herrington led off with a single and stole second before moving to third on a passed ball with one out. Lucas' second strikeout of the inning preceded a fly out to center field to escape the jam.

The Thunderbirds' Jillian Miller led off the second inning with an infield single before Lucas struck out the side. Jenna Waters reached on a two-out single to right field in the third inning, but a pop out to shortstop Sophia Gullo ended that inning.

"Jordan did a lot of the work for us," Beers said. "We only had to make eight plays, but we made the plays we had to."

Waters' single ended up being the last hit allowed by Lucas, who walked a batter in the fourth and another in the seventh before ending the game with a strikeout and a fly out to left field.

"There wasn't much we could do," Teets said. " … We needed to eke out a base hit and we couldn't do that."

Herrington was the tough-luck loser, striking out the side in every inning but the fifth and the seventh -- she actually recorded four strikeouts in the third inning after a wild pitch allowed a batter to reach base.

"Innings 5, 6, 7 were better. I think 1, 2, 3, 4 we were still kind of finding out way a little bit," Beers said of his team's at-bats. "I liked our approach the last three innings. … What I saw in the last three innings was definitely better than the first four."

Chautauqua Lake just couldn't find a clutch hit with one of its five runners on base. It didn't help that the Thunderbirds were missing starting shortstop and No. 4 hitter Cayzlee Johnson, who was attending her sister's college graduation.

"It shouldn't be one person making that big of a difference, but it does," Teets said. "You take them out of positions they are normally playing. … You still have to get the bats going."

NOTES: Fredonia is scheduled to host Jamestown, Southwestern, Olean and a doubleheader against Westfield while traveling to Dunkirk this week. … The Thunderbirds are scheduled to play at Frewsburg, Clymer/Sherman, Cassadaga Valley and Lake Shore while hosting Westfield and Maple Grove.

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