Streaks Slide Past Devils

Kayla Clemens hasn't done much catching since her Dixie baseball days, but she still feels comfortable behind the plate when called upon.

With starting backstop Wendy Negrin out with a family function, Clemens kept freshman pitcher Haley Pack under control and was unbridled with a bat in her hand, as the senior was 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBI to lead the Sebring softball team to an 11-1, six-inning Class 4A-District 10 victory over rival Avon Park on Tuesday at APHS.

Clemens had a double and two singles and Pack had two strikeouts and didn't let the ball out of the infield to lead Sebring past Avon Park, which came out slow and was hampered by seven errors.

"Their pitcher wasn't the fastest we've faced this year, so I just had to sit back and wait on them," Clemens said. "I haven't caught in a while, so I needed to get back into it a bit. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with my hitting, but I'll take it."

Freshman "Dino" Lower was 3-for-5 with a run scored and Niki Helms added a triple as Sebring pounded out 11 hits and put the game away with a five-run sixth inning.

"We were very impatient at the plate tonight," said Sebring coach Joe Sinness. "We were ahead of the pitcher for the first three or four innings because I think our intensity level was up for Avon Park.

"Our game didn't catch up to us until the fourth."

Senior Niki Helms said the Streaks moved up a bit in the box to adjust and locked in on AP pitcher Ashley Carr, who worked hard to fan seven through six innings. She added praise for fellow pitcher Pack, who worked different locations to keep the Devils off-balance.

"Haley did a really good job, and I was really proud of her," said Helms, who added a triple and scored a run. "She pitched a great game. Her fastball and screwball were on tonight.

"Our bats have been off-and-on, so this gives us a boost."

AP coach Wade Jackson said his defense simply didn't make plays when called upon and the Devils never seemed to break out of their slow start.

"Some of our girls came out a little timid and a little shy," Jackson said. "(Pack) pitched a good game, but we didn't come out there ready to swing the bats to begin with.

"I've been telling our girls all along, it doesn't matter if you're playing Lisa Fernandez and Team USA. You have to come out believing you're going to win, no matter who it is."

The Streaks went up in the top of the first when Lower scampered around from first on two errors and scored to put Sebring up 1-0. They added to the lead in the top of the second when Clemens hit a shot down the third base that was slowed down by Tate, but scored Dudek from third to make it 2-0. One batter later, Clemens - who motored around from first to third on a passed ball - scored when Adams' hot shot was misplayed and "Pookie" scored when Lower singled to left to make it 4-0.

"Offense sells tickets but defense wins games," said AP third baseman Brearnna Tate. "We have to really lock it down and trust our teammates to build on that. We're doing a lot better than when we first started, but we need to practice our defense and we'll be good to go."

The Devils got one back in the third when Danielle Tomlinson was hit by a pitch and eventually scored from third on a double-steal to make it 4-1. She said the whole dugout was a bit nervous heading into the game, and despite hanging with Sebring for most of game, AP never picked up enough momentum to get going.

"I think we could've hit her, but we were a little nervous," Tomlinson said. "She was hitting her spots and we picked up on it a little. But we need to improve defense definitely. We have good pitching and we can hit, that's the last piece."

Sebring added another in the fifth when Clemens struck again with a long double off the left-field wall to score Dudek and make it 6-1 and then scored on a throwing error to put the Streaks up 7-1.

But Clemens wasn't done: She put Sebring up 9-1 with a sharp bases-loaded single to score Pack and Dudek, then scored on a wild pitch to put Sebring within a run of ending it early. Jamie Hershkowitz then capped off a five-run, two-extra-base-hit sixth inning with a double down the third-base line to put Sebring up 11-1 and put the rival Red Devils on ice.

"Kayla was still out a little ahead of pitches, but she adjusted and was a little more patient," Sinness said. "She's been pushing so hard because she's a great hitter and she's not off to the start she wants. So she's overcompensating and throwing everything off. But she kept her weight back tonight and had nice level swing."

The Streaks are back in action at 7:30 p.m. tonight against Frostproof, while the Devils head to Braden River at 7 p.m. on Friday.