Patriots fall to Bears

By Ryan Yemen Daily Progress correspondent
Published: April 16, 2008

Over the last few years, the Albemarle softball team has consistently finished near the top of the Commonwealth District. But with some holes in the roster, the Patriots and coach Bill Hutchinson have their work cut out to get back to the title game.
Albemarle hoped to pick up an important district win against a struggling Riverbend squad Wednesday evening. However, the Patriots’ sloppy defensive play put them in a hole they couldn’t dig themselves out of as the Bears eked out a 6-4 win.
“We played six complete innings of softball today,” said Riverbend coach Chad Randall, whose team allowed just one run after a three-run first frame. “It’s the first time we’ve done that this year. We’ve played lots of three- or four-inning games, but now we finally went the distance.”
Emily Hemmesch paved the way for Riverbend (2-8, 2-5 Commonwealth) at the plate. The Bears center fielder went 3 for 4, knocking in three runs on two singles and a double.
“I was just trying to make contact and put the ball in play,” Hemmesch said. “This was probably the most fun I’ve had all year playing softball.”
After giving up a run in the top of the first, Albemarle responded with a solid three-run inning to take a two-run lead.
That lead didn’t last very long, as the Patriots unraveled defensively in the top of the third.
With two outs, Albemarle (4-6, 2-3) committed two throwing errors that allowed the Bears to put three runs on the scoreboard to go up 5-3.
“We couldn’t catch the ball, we couldn’t throw the ball,” Hutchinson said. “We didn’t play smart. We just shot ourselves in the foot all night long.”
Albemarle had four errors in the game.
The Patriots recovered on defense, allowing just one run in the last four innings, but were unable to put together much offense.
Albemarle had its chances to rally from behind in sixth inning. Right fielder Blakely Edwards led off with a double hit deep to center, but the Patriots couldn’t bring her home as the next three batters failed to reach base.
Hutchinson has tinkered with the bottom half of the lineup for the first 10 games of the year.
“We’re going find nine girls who can play and that’s it,” Hutchinson said. “I’ve given everybody a chance to prove themselves, but now it’s crunch time.”
The bottom of the batting order was a sore spot. The sixth through ninth batters went a collective 0 for 12 on Wednesday.
“One through five, we’re okay,” Hutchinson said. “We’re trying to find someone to hit the ball, to put it in play for us. But we’re just not getting it done.”
Britt Lindemann was a bright spot for the Patriots batters. The shortstop went 2 for 3 at the plate. She was involved in all four Patriots runs, driving in the first two and scoring on last two.
The Patriots will look to get things heading in the right direction on the road. Albemarle travels to Mountain View today at 6 p.m.