By CHRIS BERNHARDT JR.
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BROOKSVILLE – Whether with her right-handed pitching or left-handed hitting, Ava Miller sparked Springstead from all sides on Thursday night.
The Eagles traveled to Central in a matchup of county rivals and routed the host Bears 16-0 in five innings, with Miller tossing a shutout while going 3 for 3 and reaching base four times with three RBI.
“I think it was a good win for us. We just had to go in with the mentality that we have to play our best every game and as hard as we can,” Miller said. “We just came out, brought the energy early and kept the energy going throughout the whole game.
“… I think I did pretty good. Definitely as a dropball pitcher I rely on my defense a lot, so I’m very grateful for them. I think they did great.”
The senior who recently signed with Division II Eckerd College has split time on the mound with her younger sister Alivia the past two seasons and was making her seventh start of this season. She came in 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA, including a one-hit shutout of Central in five innings back on March 4.
This time she gave up three hits in five innings, walking one and hitting a batter while striking out seven.
“She’s tough, man,” Springstead head coach Craig Swartout said. “She’s just got that mentality of I’m just going to be better than whoever’s in the batter’s box. When she’s got that mindset, she’s tough to beat. She’s good and Eckerd is getting a heck of a player.”
Springstead batted around in a four-run second inning, with Victoria Ortega starting the scoring on a bases-loaded single to left that drove in two. Kamie Pond had a sacrifice fly to left to make it 3-0, then Ava Miller came up and went the other way for a groundball in the hole on the left side for an RBI single.
The Eagle again sent all nine batters to the plate and scored four times in the third. Audrina Savarese singled and eventually scored on a base hit that dropped into shallow right by Madison Mayon. Central couldn’t execute a potential force play at second base, allowing Savarese to come across. Pond had a two-run double on a low liner that
handcuff the third baseman, setting up Ava Miller for a bunt that the pitcher bobbled, giving her another RBI single.
After Rachel Rivera’s two-run triple to deep center field in the fourth, Ava Miller would again drive home a run on a well-placed groundball through the left side that she turned into a double. A natural right-hander, she pitches from that side but hits lefty. Yet she seemed to make a point of not pulling the ball in this game.
“Honestly I was just thinking weight back,” Ava Miller said. “The last game I had I did pop out twice. So, I was just thinking about making the adjustment, hitting the ball hard on the ground, not trying to flyout again and then that’s just what happened. So good thing I made an adjustment.”
Springstead also got four hits out of the No. 9 spot in the order, with Ortega going 3 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored, then Lily Klink took over late in the game and had a two-run double in the fifth. Sophia Whitacre, another late-inning replacement, tacked on an RBI single in the final frame.
“We played good enough,” Swartout said. “We cleaned up a lot of mistakes that we’ve made in previous games as far as baserunning and positional fielding and stuff like that. I was happy with the way we played. So, all in all, I thought it was a good step forward. We’re starting to peak I think at the right time in the season. So, looking forward
to the next couple of weeks.
“… We’ve got to clean up the little stuff. And I think if we can do that, we’ve definitely got the pitching. Defensively we’ve been playing a lot better. I guess it’s just the little things that we’ve got to make sure we stay focused on and go from there.”
