By QUINTIN HARLAN
May 04, 2008 11:53 pm
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ANDERSON — To set the scene of Highland’s Olympic Athletic Conference doubleheader softball tilt at Connersville on Saturday was as simple as it could get if the Scots wanted to add another OAC championship trophy to the display case: Sweep the Spartans and the title was theirs for the ninth consecutive season.
“We didn’t talk about it,” said Scots coach Doug Holder. “Our focus was on Jay County; that was Friday and we had to win that to have a chance.”
Game 1 saw the visitors come away with a 12-4 win behind a solid pitching performance from sophomore Katie Lee, who went the distance with seven strikeouts while giving up five hits and four runs (all unearned) and walking none.
Set to follow Lee’s effort was junior Lauren Williamson who was coming off a four-inning outing against Jay County, whom the Scots beat 19-0 to avenge an earlier 4-2 loss to the Patriots. Williamson retired 11 Jay County batters on strikes in the Scots’ win; this was a day after she’d been diagnosed with strep throat.
Was there any pressure from the potential ninth title in a row or just pitching in a “big game” in general?
“We talked about it on the bus ride home from Jay County on Friday. We knew we’d have to win both games if we were going to win conference,” said Williamson.
By the end of the second game, the scoreboard operator at Connersville probably could’ve found the zero button on the controls blindfolded by the end of the game.
The Scots finished the sweep with a 3-0 win to bring home the hardware.
Williamson added an exclamation point to the day by throwing a perfect game for her seventh win of the season.
Seven innings pitched. Zero hits. Zero runs. Zero base on balls. Oh, and 19 strikeouts for good measure.
“Katie pitched a great game against Connersville and the defense was great,” said Williamson. “Our bats were great too.”
“She was feeling it,” said Highland coach Doug Holder.
And she wasn’t even aware of it.
Throughout the course of those seven innings, Williamson had no clue that a perfect game was within reach. At least until after the post game handshakes were completed and the Spartans’ public address announcer made it known to Williamson and anyone else who may have not realized what had just happened.
“I had no idea I had thrown it. Everybody (coaches and other players) knew, but after the game (assistant coach) Mike Lee came up and told me ‘that was a perfect game’ and he had to explain to me what that actually meant. Then the PA guy there made an announcement about it. I was glad that they told me after the game was over.”
Relief extended to the Scots’ coaches staff as well.
“We were so nervous that last inning,” said Holder. “And when their announcer said ‘Ladies and gentlemen, would you please stand and congratulate Highland on winning the Olympic Conference and then congratulate Lauren Williamson who just threw a perfect game,’ she about died on the field.”
In 60 innings pitched she’s only had 12 runs scored against her with six of those being earned runs. In those same 60 innings she has retired 93 opposing batters on strikes. Her earned run average (ERA) is a microscopic .70. Her strikeout-to-walks ratio currently stands at 6 to 1. She’s given up 37 hits this season and walked 15 batters.
“We’ve been trying to get her to maximize her potential,” Holder said. “She’s a perfectionist when it comes to pitching.”
“I like to win, believe me, but I love pitching. I think it’s fun to be able to control a ball and make a ball twist and bend through the air,” Williamson said. “A good ERA is nothing without the defense behind it. (Scots catcher) Jarah (Ice) was a wall in that game. I threw a couple of rise-balls that the only way for her to catch them was to jump up and grab them and she did that.”
“One game at a time” may well be the mantra that the Scots will be employing for the foreseeable future.
Highland’s schedule has the Scots playing Mount Vernon tonight, Hamilton Southeastern on Thursday and then a trip to Blackford for the Blackford Invitational on Saturday. Then there are dates with Carmel, Delta, Madison-Grant and Hamilton Heights on the horizon.
“We haven’t peaked yet,” said Williamson. “I hope we take the confidence that we got from this weekend and build on it. We’ve been staying close to the good teams on our schedule and now I hope that this will show us that we can beat those teams as we head to the sectional.”
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