SV sophomore Hames fans 16, tosses no-hitter in 5-0 win over Butler
BUTLER TWP — Lexie Hames had command of her pitches — and control of Butler’s hitters.
Seneca Valley’s sophomore pitcher struck out 16 — including 14 of the first 18 batters she faced — and tossed her first no-hitter Thursday as the Raiders shut out Butler, 5-0, on the Golden Tornado diamond Thursday.
“She’s had a lot of high strikeout games this year .. she struck out 18 against Baldwin the other day ... but she usually walks a couple here or there, gives up a couple of hits,” SV coach Marlesse Hames, Lexie’s mother, said.
“I don’t believe she’s thrown a (high school) no-hitter before this one.”
Lexie allowed only two baserunners all day. Morgen Burgardt led off the Butler third with a bunt, the throw to first base dropped for an error. Hames struck out the next three hitters.
With two outs in the seventh, Lily Vicari drew a walk for the Golden Tornado (2-9, 2-7). She was cut down trying to steal second, ending the game.
Butler did not get a ball out of the infield during the contest.
“I didn’t realize I had a no-hitter going. I had no idea,” Lexie said. “I was just out there working on things — controlling the spin on my pitches, handling the heat and the long game, that sort of thing.
“I’m happy with the way I pitched today, but the whole team control our energy in the game. Pitching in 6A, all of the teams are competitive. I love trying to answer that challenge, but it takes all of us to win these games.”
On this day, it took some small ball as well.
Kara Pasquale led off the game with a bunt single for the Raiders (9-1, 9-1). Hames walked with two outs and Bella Gross delivered a two-out, run-scoring single to center.
A three-run SV fourth inning was highlighted by bunt singles by Pasquale and No. 9 hitter Emily Rice. The Tornado threw the ball wildly on both plays, allowing runs to score. Pasquale led off the sixth with a triple deep into the left field corner. She scored on Mia Ryan’s sacrifice bunt.
“We’ve been working on some small ball, trying to get runs that way,” Coach Hames said. “That can be a big part of softball and we want to be able to play that way.”
Pasquale had three hits and scored two runs for the Raiders. Gross had a pair of singles.
Butler’s Kelsey Ogin struck out six and scattered seven hits, but walked seven. She stranded nine SV baserunners, five in scoring position.
“Kelsey pitched well enough,” Butler coach C.J. Gattens said. “Their pitcher was fast and quite a different look from what we faced the day before. We never got our timing down and we didn’t hit with confidence in the box.
“We misplayed a couple of those bunts, gave them some runs. In a way, we beat ourselves today.”
The shutout was the Raiders’ sixth of the season. Seneca Valley has outscored its opponents 61-6 so far this year.
Seneca Valley 100 301 0 — 5 7 1
Butler 000 000 0 — 0 0 2
WP: Lexie Hames 7IP (16k, 1bb). LP: Kelsey Ogin (7IP (6k, 7bb).
Seneca Valley (9-1, 8-1): Kara Pasquale 2-1B 3B RBI, Mia Ryan RBI, Bella Gross 2-1B RBI, Meah Hames 1B, Emily Rice 1B.
Butler (2-9, 2-7): No hits
Friday: Butler at Norwin
Tuesday: Pine-Richland at Seneca Valley
