DHS Game Recaps

October 6, 2016

September 27, 2016

DECATUR LADY BULLDOGS vs. NORTH SPRINGS SPARTANS (GAME 1)

Top of the first, Katie Cassidy, pitched and Audrey Wheeler caught—best two out of three.
Katie struck out their first and second batters. North Springs’ next batter hit the ball to second and Lauren Smith threw her out for out three! Great inning!
Batting for Decatur was Lauren and she hit the ball to short and was safe at first. Center fielder, Cyerra Burdette-Long was up next and she hit a line drive to the pitcher but it got away from her; short picked it up and threw Lauren out at second but Cyerra was safe at first. Sydney Pettus, third base, was up next and Cyerra stole second. A wild pitch was thrown and Cyerra stole third. Sydney hit the ball to third and was safe at first and Cyerra came home and scored run 1. Up next was Katie and she hit the ball to the pitcher and was thrown out at first but moved Sydney to second. Audrey was up next and she popped up to first and it was caught for out three.
Top of the second and the batter hit the ball to left and Claire Smith hit the fence and caught it for out one. Great catch, Claire!!! Their next batter hit the ball over second and Stormie Hartnett in right field, threw it in but the runner was safe at first. A pitch was thrown and the runner on first was off the bag a little too far and Audrey threw it down to first and the runner got caught in a pickle. With some back and forth, Dylan tagged her for out two. Next batter hit a line drive to third and Sydney caught it for out three!
Bottom of the second and Olivia was to up at bat. She struck out and designated hitter, Haley Russell was up next. She hit the ball between first and second and was safe at first. Dylan was up next and she popped up to the catcher for out two. Stormie was up next and she struck out for out three.
Top of third and the North Springs’ batter hit the ball to second and was safe at first. The next batter hit the ball to Cyerra in center for out one. Cyerra made a great throw to first to get the runner retreating back to first but she was safe. Next batter hit the ball out to left and Claire caught it for out two. Their next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first for out three.
Bottom of the third and up first for Decatur was Lauren. She walked and Cyerra was up next. She hit a hard one to third and was thrown out at first but moved Lauren to second. Sydney was up next and she walked. Katie was the next batter and she walked. Bases were loaded and tiny but mighty, Hannah Lariscy stepped in to run for Katie. Audrey was up next and she walked. Lauren came in for run 2. Up next was Olivia and she struck out for out two. Batting next was Haley and bases were still loaded. Sydney stole home on a wild pitch for run 3. Haley hit the ball to the pitcher and was thrown out at first for out three.
Katie struck out the first batter in the top of the fourth. Their next batter popped up between third and home and Audrey caught it for out two. Next batter hit the ball down the first base line and was safe at first. The next batter hit the ball to short right and was safe at first and they had a runner on third. A pitch was thrown and the runner on first tried to steal second and Audrey thought she could get her out for out three, but she was safe and run scored. The next batter hit the ball to short and Dylan threw her out at first for out three. Score was now 3-1 Decatur.
Bottom of the fourth and Dylan was up to bat and she hit a line drive to short for out one. Stormie was up next and she hit the ball down the third base line and was safe at first. Lauren was up next and she hit the ball out to right field and got a stand up double and Stormie was on third. Cyerra was up next and she struck out for out two. Sydney was up next and she hit a good one out to right field but it was caught for out three! Ugh!!!
Top of the fifth and the batter hit the ball to short right and was safe at first. The next batter bunted and Sydney threw her out at first but they now had a runner on second. Their next batter hit the ball to the left field fence and got a stand up double and another run scored making it 3-2 Decatur. Next batter bunted and Sydney threw her out at first but there was a runner on third. Their next batter hit the ball to short and Dylan threw her out for out three!
Bottom of the fifth and up to bat was Katie. She hit the ball to short and was thrown out at first for out one. Audrey was up to bat next and she hit the ball down the left field line and got a stand up double. Olivia was up next and she hit the ball to short and was thrown out at first but Audrey was now on third. Up next was Haley and she hit the ball and was thrown out at first for out three.
Top of the sixth and Katie walked the first batter. The next batter popped to short left and made it to first. Next batter bunted and bases were loaded. Katie struck out the next batter for out one. Their next batter hit the ball to third and was safe at first and a run scored which made it 3-3. Bases were loaded and we had only one out…the batter popped up to second and Lauren caught it for out two and then she threw the runner out at third for a great double play!
Bottom of the sixth and Dylan was up to bat. She hit the ball to short and was safe at first. Stormie was up next and she struck out. Up next was Lauren and she hit the ball between first and second and she was safe at first and Dylan was now on second. Batting next for Decatur was Cyerra and she struck out for out two. Next up was Sydney and she hit the ball to short and was thrown out at first for out three.
Top of the seventh and the batter hit the ball to short and was safe at first. The next batter hit the ball to Sydney at third and she was safe at first and we had runners at first and second. Katie struck the next batter out for out one. Their next batter hit the ball to third and was safe at first and they had bases loaded! North Springs’ next batter hit the ball to second and Lauren threw the runner at home out for out two. The next batter hit the ball to third and was safe at first but a run scored and the bases were still loaded and the score was 3-4 North Springs! Oh no!!!! The next batter hit the ball to the pitcher and Katie threw her out at first for out three. That was a rough inning and we needed to get some runs!
Bottom of the seventh and up first was Katie. She hit the ball to the outfield and was safe at first. Hannah was put in to run for Katie. Audrey was up next and she walked. We now had runners at first and second. Up next was Olivia and she bunted and was thrown out at first but moved Hannah and Audrey over to second and third. Haley was up next and she struck out for out two. Dylan batted next and she walked and we had bases loaded. Stormie was up next and the pressure was on…two outs and bases loaded and we were losing 3-4! It just wasn’t meant to be for this game. She struck out for out three. (It happened to the best of them!!!) We lost this game 3-4!!! Now on to game 2!

September 28, 2016

DECATUR VARSITY LADY BULLDOGS v. ARABIA MOUNTAIN RAMS

We knew we were in store for a close game with the Arabia Mountain Rams. They beat us during the summer and we didn’t want that to happen again.
Top of the first inning and Arabia Mountain’s first batter bunted and Olivia Brozek, who played first base, snagged it and threw it to Lauren Smith, who played second base but covered first for the bunt, for out one. The next batter hit the ball over to left and was safe at first. Their next batter popped up to center and it was caught by Cyerra Burdette-Long for out two. Their next batter hit the ball between short and third and short stop, Dylan Andrews, stopped the ball from getting to the outfield, but they now had runners on first and second. Katie Cassidy, pitcher, threw a pitch to their next batter and runners stole second and third. The batter then hit the ball to third and Sydney Pettus threw her out for out three!
Bottom of the first and Lauren was up to bat. She hit the ball between first and second and was safe at first. Up next was Cyerra and she walked. Sydney was our next batter and she put down a fantastic bunt but was thrown out at first. She did her job though…she moved Lauren and Cyerra over to second and third. Katie was up next and she popped up to third for out two. Audrey was up next and she popped up between right and center and it was caught for out three.
Top of the second and their first batter hit the ball between third and short and was safe at first. Their next batter hit the ball in the same place and Dylan stopped it but they were safe and now had runners at first and second. Next batter hit a blooper in the air to Katie for out one and then Katie threw the ball to second for out two. Katie then struck out the last batter for out three. WooHoo! Still no score.
Bottom of the second, and Olivia was up to bat. Olivia popped a mile high one behind second and it was caught for out one. Designated hitter, Haley Russell, was up next and she struck out. Up next was Dylan and she hit the ball to right and was safe at first. Up next was right fielder, Stormie Hartnett, and she got hit with the ball and got to first and moved Dylan on to second. Lauren was up next and a wild pitch was thrown and Dylan stole third and Stormie stole second. Lauren was up next for Decatur and she struck out for out three.
Top of the third and the batter hit the ball between third and short and was safe at first. The next batter popped the ball up behind second and Dylan made a run for it and caught it for out one. Arabia Mountain’s next batter hit the ball to center and Cyerra caught it for out two with a runner still on first. Their next batter hit the ball to short center field and she was safe at first and the runner moved to second. The next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first for out three.
Bottom of the third and Cyerra was up at bat. She walked and up next was Sydney. A pitch was thrown and Cyerra stole second. She continued on to third and did a back door slide and was safe! Sydney hit the ball to second and was thrown out at first and Cyerra was still on third. Up next was Katie and she hit the ball to short and was thrown out at first and Cyerra was still on third. We were all waiting for her to steal home to make our first run but that didn’t happen. Audrey was our next batter and she popped up to first for out three.
Top of the third and the ball was hit to the pitcher and she was safe at first. The next batter hit the ball to left center and Claire Smith made a beautiful catch for out one. The runner on first tried to steal second and Audrey threw the ball to Dylan who covered second and tagged her for out two. The next batter hit the ball to short center and she was safe at first. The next batter hit the ball down to third and was safe at first…runners on first and second and two out. Their next batter hit to short and Dylan jumped in the air to grab the ball and then she stepped on the bag to get out three!
Bottom of the third and batting first for Decatur was Olivia and she walked. Haley was up next and she bunted and was thrown out at first but she moved Olivia over to second. Olivia stole third and then she was thrown out at third. Dylan was up to bat next and she walked. Batting next was Stormie and Dylan tried to steal second and was thrown out for out three.
Top of the fourth and the batter hit the ball to short and Dylan threw her out for out one. The next batter hit the ball to second and Lauren made a diving catch and almost snagged it but she was safe at first. Their next batter hit the ball to right and Stormie made a running catch and caught it for out two! The next Arabian Mountain batter hit a line drive to short and Dylan caught it for out three!
Bottom of the fourth and Stormie was up to bat and she struck out. Lauren was up next and she walked. Cyerra was our next batter and she hit the ball between third and short and was safe at first and Lauren was at second. Sydney was up next and Lauren stole third and Cyerra took second. Syd hit the ball to short and was thrown out at first but Lauren and Cyerra came in for runs 1 and 2! Katie was up to bat next and she hit the ball way out to center and it was caught for out three. Great hit though and we were winning 2-0!
Top of the fifth and Katie struck the batter out with a gorgeous change up for out one. The next batter hit the ball to Sydney at third and she threw her out for out two. Their next batter hit the ball to third again and Sydney and threw her out at first for out three!
Bottom of the fifth and Audrey was up to bat and she popped it over second and was safe at first. Up next was Olivia and she put down a beautiful bunt and was safe at first and Audrey moved to second. Batting next for Decatur was Haley and she put down a bunt and was thrown out at first but moved Audrey to third and Olivia to second. Dylan, who batted next, smacked a good one over second and she brought Audrey in for run 3 and Olivia was on third. Our next batter was Stormie and she bunted and made it to first and Olivia tried to steal home but was tagged out for out two. Great try!!! Up next was Lauren and she hit the ball out to right and it was caught for out three! 3-0 Decatur.
Top of the seventh and the batter hit the ball to left field and Claire caught it for out one. Next batter hit the ball to left and was safe at first. Their next batter bunted and Olivia charged the ball and threw her out at first where Lauren was covering for out two. The next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first for out three. Ball game. Decatur 3, Arabia Mountain 0!

September 22, 2016

DECATUR VARSITY LADY BULLDOGS vs. MAYNARD JACKSON SPARTANS

This was an away game and Maynard Jackson hosted Decatur at their beautiful school and field located in the Ormewood Park area of Atlanta.
Top of the first and Decatur’s first batter was sophomore, Lauren Smith, #9. She hit the ball to short and made it to first. Up next was junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1, who hit a fabulous one out between left and center and got a stand up triple and she brought Lauren in for run 1! Up next, sophomore, Sydney Pettus, #18, who was thrown a wild pitch and Cyerra ran in for run 2! Sydney walked and senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, was up next. Wild pitch and Sydney stole second and then she stole third. Olivia walked and we had runners at the corners. Up next for Decatur was junior, Katie Cassidy, #15, and Olivia stole second. Katie popped up to short for out one. Junior, Audrey Wheeler, #3, was up next and she walked and we had bases loaded. Haley Russell, sophomore, #77, was up next and she popped up to short for out two and then Olivia was thrown out at second for out three.
Time for some Decatur defense! Sydney was pitching and Audrey was catching. Olivia was on first, Lauren was on second, sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6, played short and Katie was on third. Our outfield consisted of senior, Claire Smith, #14, in left field; Cyerra played center; and sophomore, Stormie Harnett, #5, played right. Sydney struck out the first batter. Sydney struck out the second batter and Sydney struck out the third batter. Awesome!!!
Top of the second and Dylan was up to bat and she walked. Up next was Stormie and she popped up to the outfield for out one. Batting for Decatur next was Lauren and she hit the ball past second and moved Dylan to third and we had runners on the corners. Cyerra was up to bat next and Lauren stole second. Wild pitch and Dylan scored making run 3. Sydney was up to bat next and got a stand up triple and Lauren came in making run 4! Olivia was up next and she hit the ball to short and was thrown out at first for out three. Decatur 4, Maynard Jackson 0.
In the bottom of the second, Sydney struck out the first batter; the second batter; and the third batter!!! Three up, three down!
Top of the third inning and up first for Decatur was Katie and she walked. Audrey was up next and Katie stole second on a wild pitch. Audrey put down a great bunt and she made it to first and Katie moved over to third. Up to bat next was designated hitter, sophomore slugger, Haley Russell, #77, and she hit the ball to short and was safe at first. Haley brought Katie in for run 5 and Audrey was on second. Dylan was up to bat next and with another wild pitch thrown, Audrey stole third and Haley stole second. Dylan popped up to left field and it was caught for out one. Audrey, with her fast self, tagged up and scored run 6! Stormie was up next and popped up to right field for out two. Lauren was up next and she was safe at first. Cyerra was up to bat and Lauren stole second. Cyerra walked and up next was Sydney. Another wild pitch and Cyerra stole second and Lauren took third. Yet another wild pitch and Lauren stole home for run 7 and Cyerra stole third. Sydney got hit with the ball and she was on first and Cyerra still on third. Up next was Olivia and Sydney stole second. Olivia walked and we had bases loaded. Katie was up next and Cyerra stole home for run 8 and Olivia was on second. Katie popped up a little blooper toward third and made it to first and Sydney scored run 9! Katie stole second and Olivia stole third. Up next was Audrey and she popped up to short for out three.
Bottom of the third inning and we changed our defense a little bit. Freshman, Kaylen Martin, #8, was now on third; freshman, Hannah Lariscy, #12, was on second and sophomore, Keri Castle, #17, was on first and playing right field now was freshman, Emily Miranda, #4. Sydney hit their first batter and we had a runner on first. The runner stole second and Audrey tried to throw her out but she was called safe. Great try Audrey! Their next batter hit the ball to short and Dylan tried to get the runner at third but she was called safe again. The batter got a single. Sydney struck out the next batter for out one!!! Their next batter popped up to first and Keri made a fantastic catch for out two and we still had runners on the corners. Sydney hit another batter and she took a deep breath to compose herself. She had made a deal with her dad that if she struck ten batters out, he would get her tickets to see Beyonce in concert. We had our fingers crossed for her! The next batter hit the ball out to center field and Cyerra got it and threw the ball to Kaylen at third and she tagged her for out three! Whew! That was too close! The umpires had a big debate about whether a run scored or not. Bases were loaded at the time so we just needed to step on a base because it was a force out. The Maynard Coach kept saying that the runner crossed home plate before the runner at third was tagged out and that run should count. The fans were stirring and Coach Paul pulled out the rulebook and showed the umpires and the Maynard Coach that the run did NOT count! It was a force out and it didn’t matter if she crossed the plate first!
Top of the fourth inning and Haley was up to bat for Decatur and she hit a pretty one out to left field and got a single. Dylan was up next and she popped it up to left field for out one. Emily was up next and she tried to put down a bunt but she popped up to the catcher for out two. Hannah was up next and she got a single and moved Haley over to third. Up next was Cyerra and she hit the ball out to left field on the ground and got a stand up double! Haley scored run 10 and Hannah was on third. Up next was Sydney and she was hit with the ball and was on first. Keri was up next and we had bases loaded. She popped up to third for out three and we left three on!
Bottom of the fourth and the Maynard batter hit the ball to Sydney and she threw her out at first for out one. Sydney struck the next batter out for out two and this made Sydney’s eighth strike out for the night! The next batter bunted and Sydney picked it up and threw her out at first for out three.
Top of the fifth and Kaylen was up to bat and she hit it to third and was thrown out at first for out one. Next up was Audrey and she was hit by pitch and was now on first. Haley was batting next and Audrey stole second. Haley, hit the ball to left field and got a double and Audrey scored run 11. Dylan was up to bat and Haley stole third. Dylan smacked the ball to center field and got a stand up triple and she brought Haley home for run 12! Emily was up to bat next and she hit the ball to short left and got a single and brought Dylan in for run 13. Then, Emily stole second and she slid in and was called safe! Up to bat next was Hannah and she was thrown a couple of pitches and Emily stole third and then home and scored run 14! Hannah walked and then stole second and it looked like the Maynard team had given up because they didn’t even try to get her out. Cyerra was up next and Hannah stole third. Cyerra hit the ball to third and was thrown out at first but Hannah scored run 14 and Sydney was now up to bat. Sydney walked and up next was Keri and she hit a beautiful one way on out to left field and it was caught for out three.

Bottom of the fifth inning and we are hoping this will be the last inning. The batter hit the ball to third and was safe at first. The Maynard team was getting excited because maybe they had a chance now??? Their next batter was up and the runner tried to steal second, but not on Audrey’s watch! Audrey threw the ball down to second and Dylan tagged her for out one! The batter hit the ball to the pitcher and Sydney threw her out at first for out two. Sydney struck the last batter out for out three and a total of nine strike outs—one shy of her father’s goal of ten to go to the Beyonce concert! That was very sad, but we won the game 14-0.

September 1, 2016

Lady Bulldogs Easily Handle Grady Lady Knights

This ball game was played at Alonzo Crim ball field and we were ready to joust it out with the Grady Knights! Top of the first inning and junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1, who played short, was up to bat. After watching the pitches being thrown, Cyerra walked. With Cyerra on first, up next was freshman, Hannah Lariscy, #12, who played second base. Cyerra stole second and slid in to third because of a wild pitch—way to go girl! Hannah walked and we had runners on the corners. Senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, who played first, was up to bat next and Hannah stole second. A wild pitch was thrown and Cyerra ran home and the score was 1-0. Hannah saw her chance and stole third. Olivia ended up being walked and ran on to steal second. Now we had runners on second and third. Junior, pitcher, Katie Cassidy, #15, was up to bat and she also walked. I hope you get the picture; the Grady Knights were no match for the Decatur Lady Bulldogs and this was going to be a quick game. Sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6, who played center field, was up next and hit the ball over second to the green and Hannah and Olivia scored giving us a lead of 3-0. Sophomore, Makylah Harpring, #22, who was our catcher this game, was up to bat next and got a stand up double and Katie scored making it 4-0. Senior, Claire Smith, #14, who played left field, was up next. A wild pitch was missed by the Grady catcher and Dylan ran home to bring the score up to 5-0 while Makylah hustled to third base. Claire walked and got on first. Sophomore, Stormie Hartnett, #5, who played right field, slammed the ball to left field and Makylah and Claire scored giving Decatur a lead of 7-0. While Stormie anxiously waited on first for an opening to steal second, freshman Kaylen Martin, #8, who played third base, was up to bat. Another wild pitch was thrown and Stormie stole second! A third wild pitch and Stormie ran quickly to third. We were in scoring position again. Kaylen hit the ball hard to short and was thrown out at first, but Stormie ran home to make the score 8-0. We overheard the Grady fans saying, “These girls are aggressive!” Indeed! By this time, we had batted around and Cyerra was up again. She popped up to third for out two. Hannah took her turn at home plate again and she hit the ball between third and short and got a single. Olivia walked up, waited for the right pitch and got a standup triple…beautiful hit Olivia! Olivia’s hit gave Hannah the chance to run home which brought the score up to 9-0. Katie made a phenomenal hit out to center and got a triple and Olivia scored run 10. The Grady pitcher threw another one of her “wild pitches” and Katie stole home making run 11. Dylan stepped up for her time at bat again and walked. Dylan ran on to steal second, but, at the direction of the coach, left second base early so we could turn the inning over to the opposition. We had a runaway game!
Bottom of the first inning and Grady’s first batter hit a line drive over first base and Stormie threw it in, but the runner was called safe at first. The next batter hit the ball between third and short and she moved the runner to second and was safe at first. The third batter hit the ball to short-center and Dylan threw it in. Bases were loaded! What?!? C’mon Decatur! Don’t make me think I spoke too soon and underestimated this Grady team. The next batter hit the ball down the third base line, got a double and three runs scored making it 11-3. We had to get out of this inning before more runs were scored. There were runners on base and three runs scored—we couldn’t believe it. The next batter hit the ball to short and Cyerra snagged it, tossed it to Kaylen at third who tagged the runner for the first out! Awesome play, Ladies! Katie hit the next batter with a pitch and we had runners at the corners and one out. The next batter popped the ball up to second and Hannah caught it and then threw it to Cyerra on second for an awesome double play! Three out and back to the dugout.
Top of second inning and Makylah was up to bat. She hit the ball to third and made it to first. Up next was Claire who hit the ball between short and second and got a single. We had runners on first and second. Stormie took her turn at bat and Makylah and Claire stole second and third base. Stormie was hit with the ball, walked to first and bases were loaded. Kaylen was up to bat next, but the Umpire called her out. Don’t know if Kaylen stepped out of the batter’s box or did something the Umpire didn’t like, but we still had bases loaded. Up next to bat was Cyerra. Stormie ran home and the score was 12-3. Claire attempted to steal home, but was tagged out for out two—nice try Claire! You’ve got to take risks and Claire is always up for a challenge. Cyerra hit the ball down the third baseline and got a double. Up next was Hannah and while the pitcher delivered the ball, Cyerra quickly stole third. Hannah hit the ball to center field, got a single and Makylah and Cyerra ran home bringing the score to 14-3. Meanwhile, Hannah stole second and Olivia was up to bat. She slammed the ball to short and was barely thrown out at first for out three.
Bottom of the second and the score was 14-3. Katie struck out the first two batters, the third batter hit the ball to second and Hannah threw the ball to Olivia at first for out 3. Such fabulous defense!
Top of the third inning and Katie was up to bat. She smacked the ball way out to center field, but it was caught for out one. Dylan stepped up to bat and hit the ball waaaaaaaay out to left field and got a triple—way to go Dylan! Emily was the third batter and hit the ball over short and Dylan scored run 15. Emily watched for an opening and stole second while Claire watched for a good pitch. Since she didn’t see one good enough to launch into the outfield, Claire walked to first and we had runners at first and second. Up next was Stormie. A wild pitch gave Emily and Claire the opportunity to steal second and third. Another wild pitch missed by the catcher and Emily stole home for the 16th run and Claire made it to third. Stormie didn’t get a good pitch to hit, so she walked to first. With runners at the corners, Kaylen got a stand up double and Claire and Stormie scored runs 17 and 18. Cyerra slammed the ball to the outfield and got a stand up triple and Kaylen scored run 19! Up next was Hannah and she hit the ball to center, but, somehow, it was caught and that was out two. Cyerra tagged up and the score was 20-3. Sophomore, Keri Castle, #17, and now playing first, was up to bat and hit the ball down toward third and got a single. Katie passed up a wild pitch and, while the catcher scrambled to recover the ball, Keri stole second—way to go, girl! Katie hit the ball down the third baseline which gave Keri the chance to score on a single for run 21. Up next was Dylan and Katie stole second while the pitcher wasn’t looking. Dylan hit the ball to second, it was missed, she got a single and Katie scored the 22nd run. Emily batted next, got a double and Dylan ran to third. Claire hit the ball to left field and Dylan scored. We now had 23 runs with bases loaded – again. Claire took the signal from the Coach and left the base early again for out three!
In the bottom of the third inning, the ball was popped up to second and Hannah caught it for out one. The next Grady batter got a great hit that went between left and center and got a double. The next batter hit the ball to second and Hannah threw the ball to Keri at first for out two. Grady had a runner on third and the next batter hit the ball over second base and got a single while a run scored making it 23-4. The next batter was hit with the ball and now there were Grady runners on first and second. The last batter hit the ball to short and Cyerra got the third out! Run ruled and that was the ball game! Final Score – Decatur Lady Bulldogs 23 and Grady Knights 4!

August 30, 2016

LADY BULLDOGS BURIED LITHIA SPRINGS LIONS

by Marianne Cassidy / photos (to come) by Rick Brozek
Katie Cassidy, junior, #15, was pitching and junior, Audrey Wheeler, #3 was catching. The first batter up for the Lions struck out! The next batter slammed the ball to center field and junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1, threw it in but the runner was safe at first. The next batter hit the ball to short and was safe and we now had runners on first and second. The next batter hit the ball between third and short and we had bases loaded! Katie walked the next batter, so a runner walked home for a score of 1-0 bases still loaded. Katie walked another batter and a runner walked home for run 2-0 and bases still loaded. Their next batter hit the ball to short and sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6, made a fabulous catch and tried to get a double play at second but the runner was called safe! Are you kidding me!?! She was definitely out! We had two outs and bases still loaded. The next batter hit the ball to the pitcher’s mound and Katie threw her out at first for out three.
Bottom of the first inning, sophomore, Lauren Andrews, #9, was up to bat. Lauren popped up to second and we had one out. Cyerra did a swinging bunt and got a double. Up next was sophomore, Sydney Pettus, #18, and she hit the ball up first base line and the ball was dropped. Sydney was safe but she got the wind knocked out of her and she was down on the ground for a few minutes. We were getting worried when she didn’t get right back up but she recovered and was able to continue playing…thank goodness! A round of applause for Syd! Speed demon, Cyerra made it to third. The next batter up for Decatur was Audrey. She was thrown an illegal pitch (we think the pitcher stepped off the rubber before her release) and Sydney advanced to second. Audrey was up to bat for quite some time as she kept fouling the ball out and finally and unfortunately, she struck out for out three. The score was still 3-0, Lions.
In the top of the second inning, the batter hit the ball to Lauren at second and she was thrown out at first for out one. Katie struck the next batter out for out two. The next batter hit the ball to second and Lauren threw her out at first for out three.
Bottom of the second inning and up to bat was Katie. Katie smacked a good one out to center field and it was caught for out one. Next up was senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, and she got a great hit by short and she was safe at first. Next up was sophomore, Haley Russell, #77. She hit the ball to short and Olivia was thrown out at second for out two but Haley landed on first. Our next batter up was Dylan and she was thrown a wild pitch and Haley stole second. Dylan struck out for out three.
Top of the third inning, batter popped up to first and Olivia caught it for out one. The next batter hit the ball to short and she was safe at first. Their next batter bunted and popped it up to Sydney who dove for it and made a fabulous catch for out two. The next batter hit the ball up the middle and Cyerra threw it in and we had a runner at first. The next batter up hit the ball to right field and sophomore, Stormie Harnett, #5, made a beautiful running catch for out three.
Bottom of the third inning, up to bat was Stormie and she hit it over third base and she landed on first. Great hit! Next up to bat was Lauren who bunted up the first base line. The first base player for the Lions scooped it up as Lauren was running to first and she tried to toss it to the second base player who was covering first now but she didn’t use her hand to toss it. She used her gloved hand and it didn’t work to well for them, but it was great for us because Lauren was safe. Next up for Decatur was Cyerra. A pitch was thrown and Lauren stole second. The next pitch clocked Cyerra in the head…thank goodness for helmets! Bases were loaded and Sydney was up to bat. Sydney was hit with the ball and we got a run walked in—we will take it! Now the score was 3-1 and bases still loaded. Audrey slammed the ball to short and was thrown out at first but a runner scored making it 3-2. Up next was Katie and she hit to short and was thrown out at first, but Cyerra scored making it 3-3 and Sydney was on third. Up next was Olivia and she was thrown a wild pitch and Sydney scored and it was 4-3 Decatur. Olivia hit a nice one out to right field, but it was caught for out three.
Top of the fourth inning, their first batter smacked the ball out to left field and sophomore, Makylah Harpring, #22, caught it as she was running for it and got out one. Awesome catch, Makylah! Katie struck the next batter out with a pretty change up! We had two outs. Next batter popped to second and Lauren caught it for out three! We were back in the game and on top!
Bottom of the fourth and Haley was up to bat. She hit to short and made it to first. Next up was Dylan who bunted the ball and was safe at first and Haley was now on third. Up next for Decatur was Stormie; she hit it between third and short and made it to first. Haley scored and it was now 5-3. Dylan stole second and next up was Lauren. She hit the ball to short and she was safe at first and we had bases loaded. Up next was Cyerra who was batting right-handed and we all knew what that meant! Cyerra got a triple and brought in three more runs for a score of 8-3. You go girl! Up next was Sydney and the ball was hit to left field; it was caught, but Cyerra scored making it 9-3 Decatur. Up next was Audrey and she hit a good one out to center, but it was caught for out two. Next batter was Katie. With full count, she slammed it down third base line and got a double. Tiny but mighty freshman, Hannah Lariscy, #12, was put in to run for pitcher, Katie Cassidy. Up next was Olivia who hit it way out to center field and it was caught for out three.
Top of the fifth, the ball was hit to Dylan and she snagged it and threw her out at first for out one. Katie walked the next batter and we had a runner on first. The next batter hit a blooper over first base and Lauren ran over from second and caught it—great play! We now had out two. Next batter hit the ball over third base line and Dylan made a fabulous catch for out three. Fabulous inning, Ladies!
Bottom of the fifth and Haley was up to bat. She popped it up to second for out one. Next batter was Dylan and she popped up to second for out two. Up next was Stormie and she popped it up to short for out three.
Top of the sixth, batter popped up to Olivia for out one. Next batter hit it between center and right and got a stand up triple—uh oh! The next batter was walked and we had runners on the corners. The next batter hit the ball to center field and Cyerra made a fantastic diving catch for out two but a runner scored making it 9-4. Cyerra landed on her arm when she dove for the ball and we were all worried about her condition until she got up. Cyerra received a round of applause after she stood up! The next batter hit the ball to Sydney for out three.
Bottom of the sixth, Dylan hit the ball to the pitcher and was thrown out at first for out one. Our next batter was Cyerra and she hit it between third and second and she was safe at first. Next batter was Sydney and she popped it up between right and center and she was out for out two. Next batter was Audrey who made a killer hit to right field and she was safe at first and Cyerra made it to third. Next up was Katie. A ball was pitched and Audrey stole second. Katie hit the ball hard to third and it bounced over her glove and she was safe at first and Cyerra came in making the score 10-4. Hannah stepped in to run for Katie again. Audrey made it to third. Up next was Olivia while Hannah stole second. Olivia hit the ball between third and short and Audrey came home scoring run number 11 and then Hannah scored run 12 while Olivia got a double. Up next was Haley and she hit it between third and short and was safe at first. Olivia scored making it 13-4 and that’s the ball game! Run ruled!

 

August 27, 2016

LADY BULLDOGS TORN UP BY WESLEYAN WOLVES

by Marianne Cassidy / photos (to come) by Rick Brozek
It was a steamy hot Saturday afternoon at Wesleyan School in Peachtree Corners where the Decatur Varsity Lady Bulldogs came to play against the Wesleyan wolves. Their field was so much smaller than Decatur’s field and we should have been able to hit homerun after homerun out of their park. We were ready for some softball!
In the top of the first inning and Decatur’s first batter was sophomore, Lauren Smith, #9. She hit the ball and was thrown out at first for out one. Junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1, was up next and she struck out for out two. Sophomore, Sydney Pettus, #18, was Decatur’s third batter and she struck out for out three. We were hoping this was not going to be how the rest of the ball game would be played. The Wesleyan pitcher was good, but we can bust a ball off of the best of them!
Time for some defense in the bottom of the first with junior, Katie Cassidy, #15, pitching and sophomore, Makylah Harpring, #22, catching. The first batter for Wesleyan got a single. Their next batter hit the ball to second and Lauren threw her out for out one but the runner who was already on, advanced to third. Wesleyan’s next batter hit the ball to right field where sophomore, Stormie Hartnett, #5, was waiting. Unfortunately, a run scored and it was 1-0. The next batter hit the ball between third and short. Sydney dove for it but it made its way to left field and runners were now at first and second. The next batter hit the ball to short and sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6, threw her out at third for out two but we had runners on first and second. The next batter hit the ball to short and Dylan threw her out at third for out three. WooHoo!
We needed our bats to start working! It was the top of the second inning and senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, was up to bat and she struck out for out one! Katie was up next and she struck out for out two! Next, Dylan was up and she struck out for out three! Wait, what just happened here!?! Maybe we just needed to warm up.
It was now the bottom of the second and we needed some Decatur defense. The first batter popped up to third and Sydney caught it for out one. Next batter popped up to center and Cyerra caught the ball and made it look easy for out two. I missed what the next batter did, but we got out three, thankfully!
We needed to get our bats busting the ball or we might be in big trouble. The top of the third inning, sophomore, Haley Russell, #77, was up to bat and she struck out. Stormie was up next and she struck out. Next, Makylah was up to bat and she struck out for out three. Our first nine batters had been struck out! Are you kidding me!?!
In the bottom of third the batter hit the ball hard toward center and the runner got a triple. We knew this could mean more trouble. The next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first but the runner scored making it 2-0. Their next batter popped to center field where Cyerra was waiting and made out two. The next batter hit a hard fast line drive to first and Olivia caught it for out three!
In the top of the fourth, Lauren was up to bat and hit a line drive to second for out one. It was a great hit though. Cyerra was up next and she hit the ball to the pitcher and was thrown out at first for out two. Next up was Sydney and she hit the ball to the pitcher and was thrown out at first for out three. Score was still 2-0.
The bottom of the fourth inning was quick. Wesleyan’s first batter popped up to short where Dylan was waiting for out one. The next batter popped up to Lauren and it got lost in the sun and she got hit with the ball. The runner was safe at first and time was called to check on Lauren. Coach Paul and Lauren started laughing so we knew Lauren must have been okay but the fans were very concerned! The next batter popped up to center field and Cyerra caught it for out two! The next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first for out three. Yes!!! No one scored!
Decatur had to get some runs! It was the top of the fifth and Olivia was up to bat and we couldn’t believe it, but she struck out. Katie was up next and she hit the ball to first for out two. Dylan was up next and she threw down a bunt but the pitcher picked it up and threw her out at first for out three. Mercy! What were we going to do? The score was still 2-0 and we were the 0!
In the bottom of the fifth, the batter struck out for out one! The next batter hit the ball down the second base line and Cyerra threw it in and the runner was safe at first. While the next batter was up, the runner stole second. She then hit a line drive to first and Olivia caught it for out two! The next batter hit the ball up the second base line again and the ball made it to center field. The runner scored and the batter got a double. Score was now 3-0. The next batter hit the ball way on out to left field and she got a double and another run scored making it 4-0. We had to make this stop! The next batter hit the ball up the middle for the third time and she got a stand up triple and another run scored making it 5-0. The next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first for out two but another runner scored and it was 6-0. The next batter popped to short and, battling the sun, Dylan caught it for out three! Finally!!! This was not a good inning for Decatur.
We all hoped our bats would work in the top of the sixth because we were desperate for some runs. Haley was up to bat and she popped up to first for out one. Stormie was up next and she walked—we’ll take it! Makylah was up to bat next and she struck out for out two but we still have one on first. Lauren was up next and she smacked the ball hard to third but was thrown out at first for out three.
Going into the bottom of the sixth we were losing hope. A ball was hit to Sydney on third and it appeared that she caught it with her bare hand and the side of her glove for out one. Way to go Syd! The next batter popped up to center and Cyerra caught it for out two. The next batter hit the ball between right and center field and got a triple. Ugh!!! The next batter hit a line drive to the pitcher; Katie caught it for out three. No more runs for them this inning!
This was it. The top of the seventh…we had to score. We had scored six or seven runs in one inning before. How hard could it be? We are a great team! Cyerra was up and she was going to bat right-handed. When Cyerra bats left-handed, she bunts. When she bats right-handed, it’s serious. She needed to smack the ball big time! She did smack it good but it went to right field and was caught for out one. Next up was Sydney. She could get our momentum going…she has done it before! Oh no, she struck out for out two. It was all riding on Olivia. We were not ready to give up, but she struck out for out three. And that was the ball game. Wesleyan 6, Decatur 0.
Not our best moment and it was a long ride back to Decatur.

August 27, 2016

LADY BULLDOGS CHEWED UP STEPHENSON JAGUARS

by Marianne Cassidy / photos (to come) by Rick Brozek
The softball field for this game was a little rustic to say the least. It appeared that they had just mowed the grass as it was extremely wet and sticking to our feet. At least it was early morning and the sun had not hit us yet. Let’s play some softball!
In the top of the first inning, sophomore, Lauren Smith, #9, was up to bat and got hit with the ball so she landed on first. Up next was junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1, and she bunted and got to first. She kept on running and got to second and Lauren was now on third. Next up was sophomore, Sydney Pettus, #18 and she hit the ball between third and short. Short got the ball and Cyerra ran right passed her but the Jaguar short stop didn’t even attempt to tag her when she had the opportunity. Cyerra then made it to third and Sydney was safe on first while Lauren had scored making it 1-0. Junior, Katie Cassidy, #15, was up next and hit the ball to the pitcher and she made it to first while Cyerra scored and it was 2-0 and Sydney made it to third. With runners on the corners, up next was senior, Olivia Brozek, #16. Katie stole second while Olivia was up to bat and then Olivia hit the ball down the first base line. She was out at first for out one and up next was sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6. Dylan bunted the ball and got to first which made bases loaded while Sydney scored run number 3. Up to bat next was sophomore, Haley Russell, #77, who hit a swinging bunt and got on first and we had bases loaded again. Sophomore, Stormie Harnett, #5, was up to bat next and she got hit with the ball which caused Katie to walk home and the score was now 4-0. Makylah Harpring, sophomore, #22, was up next and smacked it to the center field fence and she got a triple and three more runs scored making it 7-0.
Lauren was up again…yes, twice in one inning! She hit it down first base line and Stormie scored making it 8-0 but Lauren was out at first for out two. Cyerra was up again and she walked. Sydney was up to bat again and Cyerra stole second. Sydney had full count and we had two out in the top of the first inning. Sydney slammed the ball to short and she was out for out three. That was a long inning, but it was fun for us!
In the bottom of the first inning, Lauren was pitching and Makylah was catching. First batter up for the Jaguars popped up to right field and Stormie caught it for out one. Great job Stormie! Their second batter hit a short one to center field and Cyerra threw it in and the batter made it to first. Next batter hit the ball to short and the runner was safe. They had runners on first and second and we realized that these girls could really hit the ball. A wild pitch was thrown and runners advanced to second and third. The batter hit the ball to the pitcher and she made it to first and one runner scored making it 8-1 with runners on the corners. Their next batter hit the ball between center and right field and she got a triple and two more scored making it 8-3. Coach Anderson called time and gathered the Lady Bulldogs on the mound to give them a pep talk. Lauren walked the next batter and we had runners on the corners. The next batter struck out and Makylah dropped the ball, but have no fear, she threw her out at first for out two! Great recovery, Makylah. The next batter hit the ball between the pitcher and first and she made it to first while another runner scored making it 8-4. Decatur still in the lead though. Lauren struck the next batter out and that was out three. Thank goodness!
In the top of the second, Katie was the first batter and she popped up to second for out one. Olivia was up next and she hit the ball to the pitcher who dropped it and Olivia was safe at first. Dylan bunted and was out at first, but she moved Olivia to second. Haley was up to bat next and she struck out for out three and we left one on.
Time for some Decatur defense again. The first batter hit it over short and got on base. The next batter hit the ball to the pitcher and was thrown out but a runner advanced to second. The next batter hit the ball between third and second—everyone was diving for it and Haley threw it in from left field. The batter got a double and they also had a runner on third. Their next batter hit the ball to Lauren and she threw her out at first. A runner scored making it 8-5 but the other runner who was still on base got herself in a pickle by trying to score. The runner rounded third base and then Sydney had the ball and ran her down. Syd then threw it to Makylah at home plate to tag her but the runner retreated back to third. Makylah then threw the ball to Dylan who was now covering third. The runner turned back again to go home and Dylan threw it home where Olivia was waiting. Olivia threw it back to Sydney and the runner ran out of the baseline and she was called out! Now that was pretty exciting! Great teamwork, Ladies!
In the top of the third inning, Stormie bunted and popped up to third for out one. Makylah struck out for out two. Next up was Lauren and she hit the ball to second and she was thrown out for out three. Score still Decatur 8, Stephenson 4.
Bottom of the third inning, defense time! Their first batter hit the ball to Lauren and she was thrown out at first for out one. The next batter hit to short and she was safe at first. Lauren struck out the next batter for out two and we still had a runner on first. The runner on first attempted to steal second and Makylah threw it down to second where Dylan caught it and the umpire called her safe. It was a great throw by Makylah and a great tag by Dylan, even though the umpire called her safe! The next batter hit the ball to the pitcher and Lauren threw her out at first for out three. Score was still 8-5.
In the top of the fourth inning, Cyerra was up to bat and she got a double. Decatur’s next batter was Sydney. While Sydney was batting, Cyerra stole third and then she stole home making it 9-5. Great job, Cyerra! Sydney had full count, no outs and she walked. Up next was Katie and she popped up to third for out one. Olivia was up next and she got a triple and Sydney scored making it 10-5. Dylan was up to bat next and she slammed a line drive to first and she was out and Olivia remained on third. Haley was our next batter and she hit a beautiful one out to center field but the ball was caught for out three and we left one on.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Lauren struck out the first batter for out one. The next batter popped up over short in the grass and Dylan made a spectacular catch for out two! The next batter for the Jaguars hit the ball to short and the runner got to second. Their next batter hit the ball to center field and the runner got a triple and a run scored making it 10-6. Next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first for out three. Whew!
In the top of the fifth, Stormie was up to bat and got hit with the ball. Ouch! She got to first and up next was Makylah. Stormie wasn’t hurt too badly by the pitch that hit her because she stole second without any problem. Makylah bunted and was thrown out at first, but she advanced Stormie to third! Lauren was up to bat next and she got a wild pitch and Stormie scored making it 11-6! Lauren hit the ball on the ground out to center and made it to first. Cyerra was up next to bat and a wild pitch was thrown letting Lauren steal second. Full count on Cyerra and she walked. We now had runners at first and second. Sydney was up to bat and Lauren stole third and then Cyerra decided to steal second, why not???. Sydney then got a double and two runs came in making it 13-6. Katie was up next and she popped up to short for out two. Up next was Olivia and she popped up to first for out three.
Bottom of the fifth, the batter hit the ball to the pitcher and Lauren threw her out at first for out one. The next batter hit the ball to shallow center field and Hannah made a dive but the runner got to first. The next batter popped to short and Dylan caught it for out two. The next batter hit the ball to the pitcher and Lauren threw her out at first for out three. Ball game 13-6 run ruled.

August 24, 2016

LADY BULLDOGS PUT CHAMBLEE BULLDOGS IN THE DOG HOUSE

by Marianne Cassidy / photos (to come) by Rick Brozek
Pitching for Decatur was sophomore, #9, Lauren Smith and catching was junior, Audrey Wheeler, #3. The first Chamblee batter hit the ball and got on first. The next batter hit the ball to short stop, sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6. Dylan threw the ball to second base freshman, Hannah Lariscy, #12, to get the lead runner out for out one. Hannah then tried to make a double play. She threw the ball to first but the runner was called safe. Great try, Ladies! Decatur catcher, Audrey, cannot stand to have someone on a base and think that they can take a big lead—not on her watch! She threw the ball to first base to try to get the runner out but she was called safe. I think the runner was taught a good lesson though…Audrey has a great arm! The next batter hit the ball in the air to Dylan at short and she caught the ball and tried to make a double play by throwing to first where senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, was waiting but the runner was called safe. The next Chamblee batter hit the ball to second and Hannah threw her out at first for out three.
Bottom of the first inning and Decatur was at bat with #1, junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long. She struck out for out one. Up next was Audrey and she popped it up and their catcher caught it for out two. Sophomore, Slugger Sydney Pettus, #18, hit a hard and fast line drive to their pitcher for out three. We were all very surprised that the pitcher actually held on to the ball!
Time for some Decatur defense. The batter popped the ball way up over first base and the runner was safe and eventually scored making it 1-0 Chamblee. The next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney, with her powerful arm, threw her out at first for out one. Lauren struck out the next batter for out two. Yes! The next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out in flash at first for out three. Oh yes she did!
Bottom of the second inning and up to bat for Decatur was junior, Katie Cassidy, #15. She got hit on her back with the ball and everyone gasped in horror at the loud thud. Katie made her way down to first base but wasn’t too pleased with how she got there. The next batter was Olivia. When the pitcher pitched the ball to Olivia, Katie stole second. Way to go, girl! Olivia walked and Katie soon stole third. We had runners at the corners and Lauren was up next. She hit the ball to right field and she was thrown out at second for out two, but Katie scored and Olivia had made it to third! Score was now 1-1. It was getting pretty intense at the beautifully tree-lined field at Oakhurst Park and up to bat next was sophomore, Haley Russell, #77. She hit the ball about two feet from the batter’s box and it spun on the ground for a few seconds and was finally called foul after Haley made it to first and Olivia made it home. The umpire said no one had touched the ball before it rolled foul. There sure were a lot of players standing around watching the spinning ball on the ground. Olivia went back to third and Haley got back in the batter’s box. The Chamblee pitcher threw a wild pitch and Olivia stole home and it was 2-1 Decatur! Haley then smacked the ball really hard and got on first. Dylan was up next and got hit with the ball on her thigh! Are you kidding me?!? Another one of our ladies had been hit with the ball. Dylan took her base and Haley advanced to second. Right fielder sophomore, Stormie Hartnett, #5, was up next and hit the ball out to left field and got a double which brought Haley and Dylan in making it 4-1 Decatur. Cyerra was up next and popped the ball up to short for out one. We couldn’t believe that this was just our first out! Audrey, who was up next, was walked and Stormie was now on third. Sydney was up next and the pitcher threw a wild pitch and Stormie stole home making it 5-1 while Audrey stole second! Sydney hit the ball between short and third and got on base which brought Stormie home for a score of 6-1. Katie was up to bat again! After the next pitch, Sydney stole second beautifully. The catcher tried to throw her out, but Syd slid and she was safe. Katie popped it up to the sky and it was caught for out three.
It was again time for some defense in the top of third. The next batter for Chamblee hit the ball to right field and Stormie caught it on a hop and the runner made it to first. The next batter was up and everyone thought the batter was going to bunt. Olivia came to the plate from first and Sydney came to the plate from third to assist while Hannah ran over to first to snag Audrey’s throw. Instead, the batter struck out for out one. The next batter was up to bat and the runner on first thought she would to test Audrey’s arm down to first by standing off the base and walking slowly back to first. Audrey made a killer throw down to first and almost got her. The next batter struck out for out two. The runner was still on first. The ball was hit to short and Dylan threw her out at first for out three. 6-1 still and bottom of the third.
Up to bat next for Decatur was Olivia and she hit the ball down third base line and made it to first.
Lauren was up next and bunted and got thrown out at first but Olivia made it to second. Way to go Lauren! Haley was up next and popped up to center for out two…great hit though. Dylan was up next and hit the ball through short and Olivia got to third and Dylan got to second. Stormie was up next and hit the ball to third and she was thrown out at first for out three and we left two on.
Time for more Decatur defense. The batter for Chamblee hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first. Great teamwork Olivia and Sydney! The next batter hit the ball to the pitcher and Lauren threw her out at first for out two. The next batter hit the ball to short and Dylan threw her out at first for out three. Still Decatur 6-1!
At the bottom of fourth, Cyerra was batting for Decatur and she hit a hard line drive to third. The ball was caught for out one. Audrey was up next and she popped up for out two. Sydney was up after that and she made it to first. Dylan was now up and hit the ball down first base line and was out at first for out three.
In the top of fifth inning, we were getting a little nervous when the first batter got on base after hitting down the first base line. This Chamblee team was no match for us! We always beat them! The next batter hammered the ball down the first base line and it went way on out to right field—I mean way out there to the fence! Oh no!!!! Stormie threw it in but the batter got a triple and a run scored making it 6-2. The next batter for Chamblee hit the ball to right field and Stormie made a lovely catch for out one. The next batter hit a grounder to Sydney at third base but she was safe at first. The runner on third scored making it 6-3 and then the runner on first tried to steal second but Audrey threw her out for out two! The next batter hit the ball on the ground and it made its way to the outfield and we now had a runner on first. We needed to get it together because the other Bulldogs were gaining momentum! The next batter popped the ball up to Olivia on first for out three. Thank you!
Up first for Decatur in the bottom of the fifth was Katie. She popped it up to short for out one. Olivia hit a beautiful ball to left field and it was caught for out two. (See was totally robbed!) Lauren was up next and she hit the ball to center field and it fell out of her glove—Yippee—Lauren got on base and hopefully she was getting Decatur’s momentum flowing again. Haley was to up to bat next and she hit the ball to third for out three. It was still Decatur 6 and Chamblee 3.
In the sixth inning, the air was getting a bit tense. The batter for Chamblee hit the ball to Lauren at the pitcher’s mound and was thrown out at first for out one. The next batter hit the ball between second and first and Olivia made a dive for it and then Hannah made a dive for it but it went out to right field. Stormie threw it in and they had a runner on first. The next batter was up and the runner on first tried to steal second and Audrey threw the ball down to second, but the umpire called her safe. We didn’t believe it! She was totally out! So we moved on to the next batter who hit the ball down first base line and Olivia got her out but the lead runner got to third. We had two out. The next batter hit the ball to center field and the runner scored from second and the score was 6-4 with a runner on first. The next batter hit the ball down the first base line and runners were now at first and second.
Coach Paul was on her way out to talk to Lauren and she decided to put Katie in to pitch. Lauren had pitched a great game though! She then moved Lauren to second. Katie warmed up for a few seconds and she was ready to shut this game down!
The next batter up hit a foul ball to third and Sydney caught it for out two, but Syd wasn’t finished yet! She then stepped on third because the runner was off the bag and we had out three! Sydney made an awesome double play! Way to go, girl!
We went in to the bottom of sixth inning with the score of 6-4, Decatur was still in the lead. Dylan was up to bat and she was walked to first. Stormie was up next and Dylan stole second and she made a beautiful back door slide—just awesome. Stormie put down a perfect bunt and made it to first and we had runners at the corners. Cyerra was up to bat next for Decatur and she struck out for out one. Audrey was up to bat after that and put down bunt and the Chamblee team didn’t know what to do with the ball, so she made it to first. With bases loaded, Sydney was up to bat and popped it up and she was called out with an infield fly for out two. Katie was up next. We all kept our fingers crossed because we knew she could do this. We were hoping for a grand slam, but we would take anything. She hit a beautiful one to center and got a double and three runs scored making it 9-4 Decatur! Olivia was now up to bat and got a wild pitch and Katie stole third. Olivia popped up for out three.
We hoped this was going to be it; we needed to play some defense. Katie struck out Chamblee’s first batter for out one. The next batter hit the ball to third and the runner was safe at first. The next batter popped up and Audrey caught it for out two. The next batter hit the ball to right field and Stormie made a great catch for out three! We run ruled Chamblee in the bottom of the sixth inning! Decatur won 9-6!
It was an exciting game to say the least and to top it off, we were told by Coach Paul’s father, that this game was COACH ALLISON PAUL’S 100^TH DECATUR WIN! Congratulations!!!

 

August 22, 2016

LADY BULLDOGS POUNCED BY DUNWOODY WILDCATS

by Marianne Cassidy / photos (to come) by Rick Brozek
I missed the first two and half innings because of bad traffic from Atlanta to Dunwoody, but was told that Decatur had made a lot of mistakes during that time period and the score should really be 0-0. Unfortunately, it was now the bottom of the third inning and it was 2-0 Dunwoody!
The first batter for Dunwoody, in the bottom of the third inning, hit the ball to the pitcher, junior, Katie Cassidy, #15, and was thrown out at first for out one. Next batter also hit the ball to Katie and was thrown out at first for out two. Next batter hit the ball down the third base line in foul territory and sophomore, Sydney Pettus, #18, attempted to catch but the ball was up against the fence of the Dunwoody dugout. She made somewhat of an acrobatic move to catch it and once she hit the fence, Sydney’s body slowly slid down the fence with her legs in the air and without the ball in her glove as the umpire call the ball foul. She gets an A for effort on that one! Nice try, Syd!!! Dunwoody’s next batter hit the ball down first base line and right fielder sophomore, Stormie Hartnett, #5 threw the ball in. We now had a runner at first. Batter up next hit the ball to center field and junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1, caught it for out three!
Sydney was the first up for Decatur and she popped it way high to center field for out one. Senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, was next up to bat and hit it to second and she was thrown out at first. Junior, Audrey Wheeler, #3, up next and she strikes out for out three. Now that was a short inning!
Bottom of the fourth inning and the batter up for Dunwoody hit a home run to center field. The score was 3-0. What?!?!? Next batter hit the ball to left field and sophomore, Makylah Harpring, #22, threw it in but the batter got on first. The next batter bunted and Katie got the ball and threw her out at first but the runner on first advanced to second. The next batter hit the ball between third and short stop and no one could stop it but Makylah was waiting in left field and threw it to Sydney on third but wait…the runner got a little cocky and thought she could make it to third base but she was now caught between second and third and Sydney ran her down and tagged her for an exciting out two. That was a great play! The next batter hit the ball up and over Olivia’s head at first base, but she stretched super high and caught it for out three.
Top of the fifth inning and next up to bat for Decatur was sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6. She got a full count and we were hoping for the best. She slammed the next pitch to short and she was thrown out at first for out one. Sophomore, Haley Russell, #77, was up next and she walked– we now had a runner at first. WooHoo!!! Stormie was up next and got a full count and we were again, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, she struck out for out two. In the meantime, the Dunwoody catcher tried to throw Haley out at first as she was walking back to the bag. She was almost thrown out at first, but thankfully, called safe. Glad I don’t have to wash that uniform! Sophomore, Lauren Smith, #9, was up to bat next and sadly, struck out for out three and we left one on.
In the Bottom of fifth inning, the Dunwoody batter hit the ball between short stop and third and they had a runner on first. Next batter hit the ball between left and center and she got a double. We had runners on third and second. No outs! The next batter smacked a hard ground ball over second base and Cyerra, in center field, fielded it but two runs scored 5-0. With a runner on first, the next Dunwoody batter hit the ball to second; Lauren caught it and we had one out. Yes! The next batter hit the ball down the third base line and Makylah in left field stopped the ball but we had runners on the corners! Oh no!!! The next batter hit the ball to second base and Lauren threw her out at first for out two; however, the runner on third advanced home and the score was 6-0! Next Dunwoody batter hit the ball to left field and we had runners at the corners again! Catcher, Audrey, tried to throw the runner out at first but the throw wasn’t in time and thank goodness a runner didn’t try to steal home. The next batter was walked and we had bases loaded and two outs. We were all feeling doomed at that point! The next batter hit the ball to left field and we thought Makylah was going to save the day, but unfortunately, it hit her glove and was not caught. Two more runs scored which made it 8-0 and that was the ball game! We were run ruled by Dunwoody.
A team we had beaten so many times before. Needless to say, errors got us on this one!

August 20, 2016

Lady Bulldogs Demolish Banneker Trojans in 3 Innings

by Marianne Cassidy / photos (to come) by Rick Brozek
Pitching for Decatur was sophomore powerhouse, #9, Lauren Andrews. She struck out almost every batter she faced. The first batter for Banneker struck out. The second batter hit the ball to third and sophomore, Sydney Pettus, #18, threw her out at first for out two. The third batter was struck out for out number three. Three up, three down—just like we like it!
Decatur was now up to bat and ready to score some runs! Junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1, hit the ball to third and it was overthrown to first so Cyerra was safe! But that wasn’t enough for her. Cyerra saw her chance and took off for second and was safe. Next batter for Decatur was Sydney. The Banneker catcher made a bad throw back to the pitcher and Cyerra stole third. Sydney finally got a decent pitch and hit the ball to short and made it to first while Cyerra scored our first run!
Senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, was up next to bat and smacked the ball to the outfield and got on first and moved Sydney to second. Junior, Audrey Wheeler, #3, stepped up to bat and got on first. We now had bases loaded! Sophomore, Haley Russell, #77, came up to the plate and hit the runners in for a score of 4-0! Haley made it to third and junior, Katie Cassidy, #15, was up to bat next. She hit the ball to the pitcher and the pitcher bobbled it and Katie got to first and Haley scored making it 5-0. Next up was sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6, and she walked and moved Katie to second. Sophomore, Stormie Hartnett, #5, was up next and she was also walked and bases were loaded! Yes, this was a good thing, but our Decatur Lady Bulldogs don’t want to walk, they want to hit the ball! We were back to the top of the line up with Lauren batting. Lauren walked which made Katie walk home and made the score 5-0! Cyerra hit the ball between short and second and Dylan and Stormie scored making it 7-0. I think we have another runaway game here! Lauren was now on second and Cyerra on first. Up to bat was Sydney and she hit the ball to the outfield and got a double. Lauren and Cyerra come in and made the score 9-0. Olivia was up next and hit a pretty one to the outfield which got Sydney in with a score of 10-0. Olivia decided to just keep running and got a double because the Banneker second base player didn’t tag her after she caught the ball! Audrey was our next batter and Olivia with her speediness stole third and she was safe because she was not tagged again! Olivia just couldn’t stand it and she stole home making it 11-0. Audrey popped up to second for out three. Finally! Keep in mind, this was just our first at bat!
Top of the second and now time some Decatur defense. Lauren was still pitching and struck out the first batter. The next batter hit the ball to third and Sydney threw her out at first. Lauren struck the next batter out which made for out three. Wow! It was déjà vu all over again!
Bottom of the second inning, Haley was now up to bat again and hit the ball to third where she was thrown out at first. Next up, freshman, Hannah Lariscy, #12, hit the ball between short and second and got to first, but they missed the ball and Hannah kept running and got a double! Dylan was up to bat next and then Hannah stole third. She then stole home and the score was now 12-0. Dylan eventually walked to first. Next at bat was freshman, Emily Miranda, #4, and she popped it up to left field and it was caught—great hit though! Lauren was next up to bat and Dylan was still on first. Dylan stole second and then she was on her way to steal third. The pitcher threw it to third to try to get Dylan out but Dylan was way too fast for her and made it home for a score of 13-0. Lauren then hit the ball way out to center and Lauren with her super stealth speed got herself an in the park home run which made it 14-0! WooHoo!!! Senior, Claire Smith, #14, was up next to bat and walked. Up next was freshman Kaylen Martin, #8. Kaylen hit the ball to center field where it was caught. Another fantastic hit though!
Decatur defense time again and it was now the top of the third inning. Lauren had definitely brought her “A” game today as she struck out all three batters—three up, three down! Another short inning!
Bottom of the third and sophomore, Keri Castle, #17, was up to bat for Decatur and walked. Next up was sophomore, Makylah Harpring, #22, and she hit it to third. She was thrown out at first and Keri made it to second. Haley is up to bat next and hit the ball to the outfield which let Keri score and made it 15-0. The umpire called the game over because Decatur had run ruled Banneker!
Lauren Smith pitched a perfect game!
Congratulations to her and the entire Decatur Varsity Lady Bulldogs for the win.

August 16, 2016

LADY BULLDOGS DEFEATED BY BLESSED TRINITY TITANS

We are not sure what happened to the Varsity Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday, August 16! The fans couldn’t really tell, but something was amiss. We didn’t have the explosive energy like we had during the Westminster game or even at the Druid Hills game. We even had the home field advantage! We had error after error and BT run ruled Decatur in the 5^th inning with a score of 9-1.  Arrrrrgh!

August 11, 2016

by Marianne Cassidy/photos by Rick Brozek
The Druid Hills Varsity team was certainly not at the level of play as our team. Their pitching was more for a slow pitch game and the Lady Bulldogs play fast pitch. Getting a slow pitched ball when you are accustomed to a fast pitched ball takes a little getting used to…maybe that was their strategy, but it didn’t work.
Decatur’s lead off batter was junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1. She hit the ball to short stop and it was caught and then dropped so Cyerra made it to first base. Our second batter was junior, Audrey Wheeler, #3. Audrey hit the ball to second base which got Cyerra out and Audrey landed at first. Shortly thereafter, she stole second base at the surprise of Druid Hills. Next up was senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, and unfortunately, struck out because the pitches were too slow! We all gasped in horror, but understood the reasoning. Wait for it…the Druid Hills’ catcher dropped the last strike and Olivia took off for first base and was safe. Audrey has now made it home. Score was 1-0!Sophomore, Sydney Pettus, #18, was up to bat next and smacked the ball to left field. Olivia scored which made it 2-0! Sydney then stole second and then third. Sophomore, Lauren Smith, #9, was up next. She got a bad pitch and Sydney made it home and the score was 3-0! Lauren hit the ball to short and she was thrown out at first. Next, sophomore, Dylan Andrews, #6, took her turn at bat and struck out making the third out.
Lauren was pitching and it was time for some defense! First batter for Druid Hills hit the ball between right and center field and sophomore, Stormie Hartnett, #5, made a great catch for the first out. The next batter popped up to Olivia for out two. Third batter for Druid Hills hit a grounder to Olivia at first and she stepped on the bag which made it three up, three down for Decatur!
Second inning, sophomore, Haley Russell, #77 was up to bat for Decatur and she cracked the ball to left field and got a double. Stormie was up next to bat and, in the meantime, Haley stole third base. Stormie knocked the ball between third and short and made it to first while Haley ran home making the score 4-0!
Up to bat next was sophomore, Makylah Harpring, #22. A pitch was thrown and Stormie stole second. Makylah slammed her bat and hit it to the outfield and got on first while Stormie kept heading for home and got tagged out! Nice try Stormie! Cyerra was up next and hit the ball to third base and the line drive was caught for out number two!
Audrey Wheeler hammered the ball down between short and center and was running around the bases and got a triple…unfortunately, Makylah was still on third base. Audrey tried to retreat back to second base, but it was too late. The umpire called her out for the third out. Ugh!Druid Hills was up to bat and hit a pop up between second base and the pitcher. Freshman, Hannah Lariscy, #12, dove for the ball and made a phenomenal catch. The batter was out! The next batter hit a pop fly to second base and Hannah caught it again! WooHoo!!! Lauren stayed laser focused and struck out the third batter for out number three!
Decatur’s turn again and Olivia was up to bat. She hit the ball out to left field and the leftfielder misses the ball and Olivia got a double. Sydney hit a beautiful one to center field, but it was caught for out one! Lauren was up to bat next and got a bad pitch and Olivia, who was poised and ready, stole third. Lauren hit the next pitch over short stop’s head and Olivia scored making it 5-0! Next, Dylan hit the ball to third base and the ball was thrown to second base which should have been out two, but the ball was dropped and Lauren was safe and Dylan makes it to first. Haley Russell hit an infield fly making it out two for Decatur. Stormie was up to bat next and because of a bad throw by the Druid Hills’ pitcher, Lauren and Dylan stole bases and were now on second and third. Stormie then got a full count and walked to first giving Decatur bases loaded! Makylah was up to bat next and she hit it to left field where the ball was caught. We left the bases loaded; still 5-0.
Druid Hills’ next batter hit the ball to Hannah at second base and was thrown out at first with Olivia snagging the ball. Great teamwork! Next batter bunted and Lauren got the ball and tried to throw her out at first but she was safe! With a runner on first, the next batter hit the ball to the pitcher. Lauren got the ball and threw it to second and oh no!!! The ball is missed and the runner was safe. We now have runners at second and first. The next pitch thrown was wild and the runner on second stole third. We now have runners on the corners and we are all hoping for the best. The batter was walked and bases were loaded! Lauren took a deep breath to get herself focused and struck out the next batter! With two outs and bases loaded, the batter hit the ball to second base and Hannah threw the ball to Olivia for the third out! That was an exciting inning!Top of the fourth inning, Cyerra was up to bat. She hit it to second and was thrown out at first. Audrey was up next and the ball sailed through center field and should have been a homerun for her but it went under the fencing and she was forced to take a double instead. Olivia was up and popped it up to second base and it was caught—second out for Decatur and Audrey was still on second. Sydney was up next and hit a swinging bunt toward first base. The ball rolled around and made its way to the foul line all the while Druid Hills’ coaches screamed to the player at first, “LET THE BALL ROLL”, but she picked it up anyway and Sydney was now on first. While the ball was spinning around deciding whether to stay fair or foul, Audrey scored making it 6-0! Lauren was now up to bat. After a pitch was thrown, Sydney stole second. The next pitch was hit by Lauren and she got on first. Dylan was up to bat next and hit it over short’s head and Sydney scored making it 7-0! Dylan made it to second and Lauren made it to third. Haley was up to bat next and hit it to third base; however, it was caught for out three and we left two on.
It was time again for some Decatur defense. Druid Hills hit to short and it was caught for out one! The next batter hit the ball to Dylan at short and she threw her out at first. Two outs, full count, top of the fourth and the next batter hit the ball to Lauren who threw her out at first for out three!
Top of fifth—Stormie was up to bat and walked. Next batter for Decatur was senior, Claire Smith, #14. Stormie stole a base and Claire was finally walked. Stormie eventually stole another base and was on third base. Cyerra was up to bat and Druid Hills decided it was time for a new pitcher. After the new pitcher’s first pitch, Stormie stole home and Claire stole third and the score was 8-0! Cyerra was walked and now Audrey was up to bat and we have runners at first and third. Another bad pitch and Claire scored and then Cyerra ran home right behind her to make it 10-0! Audrey hit the ball to the outfield and got on base. Decatur’s next batter was sophomore, Keri Castle, #17. Keri walked and Audrey stole third. Druid Hills decided to change out the pitcher again and up to bat was freshman, Kaylen Martin, #8. Keri stole second because of a bad pitch by their third pitcher and Audrey stole home making it 11-0. Keri then stole third. Kaylen smashed the ball over third base and got a double and Keri scored making it 12-0! Lauren was up next and walked and runners were now on first and second. Dylan hit it over short stop’s head and Kaylen scored making it 13-0! Lauren and Dylan are on second and third and up to bat was Hannah who walked and bases were now loaded. Freshman, Emily Miranda, #4, was up to bat now and hit it to short and was thrown out at first. Lauren scored which made it 14-0 leaving Dylan on third and Hannah on second. Next batter was Claire and she was hit with the ball. The umpire called the pitch a strike because he believed Claire leaned into the ball and caused herself to get hit. The umpire talked to Coach Anderson for a few minutes and he walked back to the plate where Coach Paul was waiting to talk to him. After their conversation, Coach Paul told Claire to just keep playing like she was playing because she didn’t lean into the ball. After all of that discussion, Claire walked.Cyerra was up to bat and we had one out and bases were loaded. She hit the ball out to center field and Dylan scored making it 15-0, bases still loaded. Audrey was walked and Hannah scored on the walk making it 16-0! Decatur has had enough of this runaway game; Audrey left the bag early so Druid Hills could get an out. Runners were on second and third and two outs now. Keri was up to bat and struck out for the third out.
It was the bottom of the fifth and Decatur was relentless. The Druid Hills’ batter hit the ball to Hannah at second and she was thrown out at first. The next batter popped it up and Kaylen, at third base, caught the ball for out number two. The last batter hit the ball to first base and Kerri made the play for out number three! Game over!

Decatur trampled Druid Hills 16-0!

August 9, 2016

by Marianne Cassidy/photos by Rick Brozek
The Varsity Lady Bulldogs battled the Westminster Wildcats on Tuesday, August 10. Decatur always loves to beat Westminster and Tuesday night’s game was no exception. Decatur junior, Katie Cassidy, #15, pitched all 7 innings. Decatur started with an early lead in the second inning when sophomores Lauren Smith, #9, and Sydney Pettus, #18, were walked and each were able to steal a base which advanced them to second and third due to Westminster’s catcher missing a wild pitch and, of course, their leopard-like speed. A few minutes later, powerhouse hitter sophomore Haley Russell, #77, smacked the ball to the outfield giving Lauren and Sydney the opportunity to score a two run lead!
As we went to the bottom of the second inning, Sydney Pettus made a great stop at third base and threw the ball to senior, Olivia Brozek, #16, who got the runner out at first base. It was a great throw by Sydney too! Our outfield was then tested when the next batters hit balls to the outfield. Decatur junior, Cyerra Burdette-Long, #1, caught a high fly ball in center field and so did sophomore, Makylah Harpring, #6, in left field, which ended the second inning. Decatur was still ahead 2-0!
In the third inning, a Westminster batter hit the ball to pitcher, Katie Cassidy; Katie threw her out at first base and then Cyerra made another great catch in center field for out number two. Next, Sydney snagged a hard hit ball at third base and threw the runner out at first where Olivia was ready, as usual, to catch the ball making out three.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Westminster pitcher walked Olivia and Lauren. Next Sydney was hit by a ball (ouch!) and bases were loaded with Olivia on third and Lauren on second. Westminster replaces their pitcher in hopes this would help them gain some ground, but Haley Russell stood at home plate and hit the ball super hard to Westminster’s short stop. The short stop decided to throw the ball to first base and Olivia scored run number three for Decatur! Unfortunately, we left the bases loaded, but we were still ahead by three runs!!!In the bottom of the fourth inning, Westminster gets a runner on base who managed to make it to third base. Katie Cassidy struck out the next batter! However, Westminster’s third batter got a run in when she hit a ball between our short stop and second base. Next, Decatur’s superstar catcher, junior, Audrey Wheeler, #3, caught a foul ball that was hit high in the sky behind home plate and that ended Westminster’s time at bat with a score of Decatur 3 and Westminster 1.The bottom of the fifth inning bit Decatur badly as a ball was hit between left and center and the Westminster batter got a triple! The next batter slammed the ball to third base and the runner on third base made it home scoring another run for Westminster. The score was now 3-2! The Decatur Bulldogs were not giving up though! A bunt was put down and the batter was thrown out at first base, but the runner on first base advanced to second base. Another ball was hit to third base and it couldn’t be stopped and the runner scored. The game was now tied 3-3! Luckily, right fielder, sophomore, Stormie Hartnett, #5, made the third out by catching a fly ball.We were tied 3-3!!! Ugh!!! Decatur fans did not despair and the energy continued to flow to our Decatur Varsity Lady Bulldogs. We couldn’t let them beat us! Regrettably, we left some runners stranded in the sixth inning and hoped we could get three up, three down when Westminster came to bat. Katie Cassidy continued to stay focused and threw a pitch which the batter hit directly at Katie like a rocket. The line drive went right into Katie’s glove for the first out! The next Westminster batter threw down a bunt and made it to first base. The third batter popped the ball up behind the plate and Audrey snagged out number two. The next batter got Decatur’s first walk of the game and they had runners on first and second…oh my! Katie threw two strikes and a ball; the next pitch was popped up and Audrey caught it behind the plate for the third out and the third time Audrey Wheeler managed to stop Westminster from advancing.The excitement was palpable and we were coming down to the wire!!!
Top of the 7th was a fantastic inning for Decatur. Olivia Brozek was up to bat and smacked the ball past first base and made it on. Lauren hit the ball next and got on first moving Olivia to second. Slugger Sydney Pettus was up to bat and Olivia slid into home because of a wild pitch. The score was now 4-3 Decatur!Sydney walked and we had the corners filled again. #6 Dylan Andrews, sophomore, was up to bat next and slammed the ball past first base and Lauren and Sydney scored making it 6-3 Decatur! Haley Russell was up to bat again and hit the ball to the outfield letting Dylan score and making it 7-3! Westminster then put in their third pitcher for the evening (like that was going to help)! Stormie was up next and she was hit with the first pitch by the new pitcher–goodness! Cyerra was up to bat next and hit the ball to third base but was thrown out at first, although she did a great job moving Stormie and Haley to second and third base. We had a great inning but we left two stranded when the inning ended.Bottom of the 7th inning…this was IT! Katie threw a couple of beautiful strikes and then the batter hit the ball to left field. Luckily, we had Makylah waiting in left field to catch it! The next batter hit the ball over second base and they got a runner on first. Next better hit the ball down the third base line giving Westminster runners at first and second. The crowd was dying inside because we knew the Lady Bulldogs could beat Westminster and we were all hoping that the Lady Bulldogs felt the same way. They needed to stay strong and tough. The next batter hit a grounder to short and Dylan made the play at first giving us two outs. We needed just one more out but we had runners on second and third! The ball was hit to second base and Lauren caught the line drive which ended the game!
Decatur wins 7-3!

November 28, 2014

Bulldogs softball team capture awards in unprecedented numbers

Decatur High held its softball banquet a few weeks back at All Souls Fellowship—a beautiful space over at East Decatur Station—and we’ve been remiss in commenting on this remarkable event. By now we’ve attended about 10 Decatur softball banquets (this was the first at All Souls, a serious upgrade from the Decatur High cafeteria), and they are thoroughly unlike any other sports banquet we’ve been part of. Not only does it honor the varsity and junior varsity programs, but throughout the evening every player in the City Schools Decatur softball program is introduced, which this year included a smattering of third graders. Frankly, this should be a model for every sport at Decatur High.
Total, there were about 75 players representing the 4/5 Academy, Renfroe Middle and Decatur High Schools. This practically doubles the numbers from a decade ago, but more than that we saw a healthy smattering of athletes in the mix. While it’s true that you can never be sure who’s going to develop physically and athletically until they hit high school, you can spot that certain mentality early on. What we saw this year were fewer giggle boxes and more serious athletes—beginning with a very strong eighth-grade class—which only means Decatur’s varsity should take a sharp turn upwards in the coming years.
Of course, the banquet primarily honored the 2014 varsity team which finished at 23-10-1, most wins in the 14-year history of the program. This year’s squad advanced to the state tournament’s second round for the first time, and with 9-1 and 1-0 victories over Hephzidah on Oct. 15, won their first two state tournament games in program history.
More than this the banquet honored seniors Katherine Richter (also senior class president), Anna Marianchuk, Summer Sullivan, Rachel Reed and Claudia Tansey. This is not only the third class to matriculate through the school system’s entire softball program, but they comprise the first class to make three consecutive state-tournament appearances.
This year’s team captured an unprecedented 21 individual awards—no other Decatur team has come close—highlighted by Anna getting named Region 4-AAA Pitcher of the Year and catcher Audrey Wheeler the first Decatur freshman ever to earn first team All-Region.

Here’s a complete listing of awards:
Senior pitcher Anna Marianchuk
DeKalb All-Academic team
First team All-DeKalb County
DeKalb County Senior All-Star game
First team All-Region
Region 4-AAA Pitcher of the Year
2014 August Player of the Month

Senior shortstop/pitcher Summer Sullivan
Second team All-DeKalb County
DeKalb County Senior All-Star game
First team All-Region

Senior outfielder Katherine Richter
First team All-DeKalb County
DeKalb County Senior All-Star game
First team All-Region
2014 September Player of the Month

Senior outfielder Rachel Reed
Second team All-DeKalb County
First team All-Region

Senior first baseman Claudia Tansey
DeKalb All-Academic team

Sophomore second baseman Olivia Brozek
Honorable mention All-Region

Sophomore outfielder Emma Horne
First team All-Region
Honorable Mention DeKalb County

Freshman third baseman Katie Cassidy
Honorable mention All-Region

Freshman catcher Audrey Wheeler
First team All-Region

October 28, 2014

Lady Bulldogs’ BSE (Best Season Eh-ver) ends in Dodge

by Bill Banks (photos to follow later…)
Decatur softball’s BSE ended last week way down in Dodge County with an 8-3 and 14-1 double header loss to the host school. To be sure it was a disappointing finish, particularly the second-game collapse when Dodge broke open a 2-1 game with five runs in the fourth and seven in the sixth. But in no way does one day in high noon at Dodge (actually the first game started at 2:30) diminish this extraordinary season.
The Bulldogs finished 23-10-1, most wins in the 14-year history of the program. This year’s team advanced to the state tournament’s second round for the first time, and also with last week’s 9-1 and 1-0 victories over Hephzidah won their first two state tournament games in program history.
Last week also closed out the high-school careers of five remarkable seniors, which seems downright improbable considering that we remember when they started playing at the 4/5 Academy so long ago. Katherine Richter (the team’s best hitter and also senior class president), Anna Marianchuk (Region 4-AAA’s best pitcher), Summer Sullivan (the most improved defensive player we’ve ever seen) Rachel Reed and Claudia Tansey not only comprise the third class to matriculate through the school system’s entire softball program, but they are the first class to make three consecutive state-tournament appearances.
Defense let the Bulldogs down last Wednesday, with six errors in the first game, four in second. Only two players had a multi-hit day, with Katherine going 3 for 5 with a double and two RBI, while Rachel went 2 for 5 with an RBI.
The good news, even with five seniors departing, four top-flight rising freshmen may well earn starting positions next year to go along with rising sophomores Katie Cassidy, Audrey Wheeler and Cyerra Burdette-Long who each had superb rookie seasons, along with rising juniors Emma Horne and Olivia Brozek and rising senior Taylor Bryan. That’s a boatload of talent folks, and there’s no question Decatur High’s best softball will be played out in the next few years.
Coach Gary Anderson has been threatening to retire―indeed, he’s been throwing around the R-word for the last six, seven years―but we don’t see him going anyplace, not with all the young talent coming up. We don’t know this for sure, however, since Coach A talks to the media about as often as Steve Carlton and Bob Gibson, which is to say he doesn’t speak to the media. We once asked Coach, just to mess around with him, if he wouldn’t mind doing an impromptu press conference and he just laughed. But at least he’s quite a bit nicer than Gibson, who years ago responded to a question from this humble reporter by saying, “You don’t know what the bleep you’re talking about.” When we timidly asked a follow-up question he replied, “Get out of my bleepin’ face.”
Ah yes, we sure do miss Bleepin’ Bob, as he was called back then by the Fifth Estate.
Meantime Dodge County, now 27-8, advances to the state finals in Columbus to play Central of Carrollton Thursday. Regarding Region 4-AAA, region champs Blessed Trinity was knocked out by Pierce County last week, but Westminster took two out of three against Appling County for a Columbus date against Calhoun.
Once again, congratulation to this year’s Decatur Bulldogs for their best season yet.

October 16, 2014

Dogs Advance to second round for the first time ever; Hammer Hephzibah in opener, then hang on to win nail biter

by Bill Banks
Gary Anderson and Iris Gibbons started Decatur High’s softball program in 2000 and fielded their first varsity team in 2001. Wednesday night in Hephzidah, Georgia, 14 years after the first pitch was thrown, Decatur High made it past the first round of the state playoffs for the first time ever with 9-1 and 1-0 victories over the home team, setting up next Wednesday’s best-of-three series against Dodge County in Eastman, Georgia. Senior right-hander Anna Marianchuk, who began playing softball in the fourth grade, pitched all 12 innings for the Bulldogs, allowing just a single unearned run in the third inning of game one. A little over one week ago Anna had wilted perceptively in game two against Westminster in a regional semifinal, but on Wednesday, good as she was in game one, she was even better in the nightcap, scattering three singles―the first one didn’t come until the fifth―and allowing only two runners to reach scoring position in seven innings. Decatur first went to the state playoffs in 2005 and didn’t get back for seven more years. In the last two years the Bulldogs dropped all four state-tournament games and none were even close. But if this year’s team had any pre-game jitters―all five seniors played prominent roles on the past two teams―they were thoroughly erased in the first inning.
Decatur scored three in the first, including a run-scoring triple from Rachel Reed and a run- scoring double from Audrey Wheeler, before applying the definitive dagger with five more in the third. Wheeler drove in another run with a single, Olivia Brozek had a run-scoring single, and Emma Horne drew a bases-loaded walk. Decatur won by run-rule with two more in the fifth, a leadoff triple from Brozek, a one-out double by Katherine Richter – without question the state’s best #9 hitter―which hit off the top of the left-field wall’s yellow tubing to drive in Brozek followed by a single from Cyerra Burdett-Long chasing home Katherine.Anna walked two, struck out seven and allowed only two singles. The second game proved much tougher. The Bulldogs scored in the bottom of the second (they were home team in the nightcap), Anna with a single, moved to second on a single by Wheeler, then scoring on Brozek’s base hit. Little did anyone suspect this would be the only tally all night.
For a time Anna cruised, didn’t allow a hit until a one-out single in the fifth and left that runner stranded. In the sixth she had her scariest moment, a single and a walk putting runners on first and second with two out, before getting cleanup hitter Nicole Renshaw on a grounder to short.
In the seventh Hephzibah’s Marita Thompson led off with a low pop up back of the circle that Anna caught with an over-the-shoulder grab, probably the best defensive play of her varsity career. She struck out Megan Dudley, but then gave up a two-out single to Emani Mayor. For those of us who’ve watch Decatur softball over the past decade or so, this is the moment when we break out into a James Brown cold sweat, or when we finger a rosary, or look yearningly towards the East or, better yet, grab a fifth of bourbon. For this is the moment, in Decatur softball history, when things heartlessly unravel.
But Anna, who knows some of that history as good as anyone, ended matters briskly and efficiently fanning Triston Johnson to send Decatur to Eastman, Georgia, for next week’s second round.

 In the second game Anna walked one, struck out seven and was seemingly in command all day long. Meantime at the plate Burdette-Long went 3 for 6 in the two games, including a triple, freshman catcher Audrey Wheeler went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI and sophomore second baseman Olivia Brozek was 3 for 6 with 2 RBI.Game times for the Sweet 16 doubleheader next Wednesday at Dodge County are 2:30 and 4:30. Decatur is 23-8-1, by far the most wins in school history, while Hephzibah finishes its season at 15-16. Meantime, with thunderous 13-1 and 27-0 victories over Central Macon Wednesday, Dodge is 25-8. Decatur and Dodge have only one common opponent in Blessed Trinity, which beat Decatur 5-4 on August 12 and four days later was beaten by Dodge 9-1.

For historical considerations, here’s a rough timeline of Decatur High’s softball history:
2000 – first season, JV only
2001 – First Varsity team
2002 – First Renfroe Middle School team
Spring, 2005 – First season of the Glenwood/Fifth Avenue 4/5 Academy team
Fall, 2005 – Only Decatur team to win a regional championship, followed by the school’s first appearance in the state playoffs, resulting in a first-round exit.
2012 – Return to state playoff after seven years, lost in the first round. 2013 seniors are the first class to play through the entire system, 4/5 Academy through varsity.
2014 – First state playoff wins, first time advancing to second round. 2015 seniors are the third class to come through the entire system and the first with three class officers.

October 13, 2014

Dogs Heading to Augusta for State Tournament

by Bill Banks
For the third consecutive year Decatur’s softball team goes to the state tournament, with a double header Wednesday at Hephzibah, the two seed in Region 3-AAA. Game times are 4:30 and 6:00 p.m. (approximately) in a best of three first-round series. If a third game’s needed it’ll be Thursday at 4:30, also at Hephzibah, located just south of Augusta.
Hephzibah is 15-14 while Decatur is a school best 21-8-1, a three seed out of Region 4-AAA.
The Bulldogs secured their seeding with a 12-0 and 15-0 double header sweep of Cedar Grove last Wednesday at Oakhurst Park, the 15th and 16th run-rule shortened shutout for Decatur this season. Wednesday games were four and five innings respectively.
In the 12-0 contest Summer Sullivan pitched four innings, allowed two hits while striking out 11. In the second game Anna Marianchuk pitched five innings of one-hit ball while also striking out 11.
Anna went 4 for 5 at the plate with 1 RBI in the two games while Katherine Richter went 3 for 4 with a team-high 4 RBI.
In case you missed it, Blessed Trinity once again won the Region 4-AAA tournament, taking two of three games from Westminster last week. Westminster won the Thursday opener 5-4 in nine innings, but BT bounced back with a 9-1 victory in Thursday’s nightcap and a definitive 10-1 statement in Friday’s deciding game. BT plays Laney in a Wednesday doubleheader while Westminster plays Westside.

October 8, 2014

Bulldogs drop a pair to Westminster; Face Cedar Grove Wednesday in regional third round

On the same day Decatur’s Bulldogs slipped into the AJC’s top 10 (10th) for the first time this season, they dropped a double header to ninth-ranked Westminster 4-3 and 8-0 in the second round of the Region 4-AAA tournament. The first game was gift wrapped and politely handed over to the home team, the second was a total collapse.
The Bulldogs now play Cedar Grove for the region’s third seed in a best-of-three series, with a doubleheader Wednesday at Oakhurst Park, 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Cedar Grove dropped 14-2 and 17-0 decisions to Blessed Trinity on Monday. BT and Westminster will play for the region championship beginning Thursday.
In a game back on August 25 the Bulldogs whitewashed Cedar Grove 18-0 in four innings.
With two victories Wednesday Decatur will travel to play Region 3-AAA’s second seed in the state playoffs first round next week, the loser of the Hephzibah-Westside Augusta series. Both are located in in the Augusta area. Their double header was Tuesday but as of this writing we have no results.
Monday’s first game was excruciating. Facing Westminster right-hander Emily Basset, who shutout the Bulldogs in a dominating performance back on Sept. 9, yielding four hits while striking out 13, Monday was an entirely different can of snuff. From the very first batter, when Cyerra Burdette hit a mile long foul ball, Decatur was zoned in on Basset big time.
Westminster took a 1-0 lead in the second when right-fielder Rachel Reed dropped a two-out fly ball that she clearly lost in the sun, right before it (the sun) dipped below the tree tops. This reminds us, incidentally, of the great New York writer Robert Lipsyte who early in his career covered a spring training game on the Atlantic coast. In his game story he added a fanciful paragraph about the sun setting below the magnificent ocean. An editor wired him back (these were the days before text messages), “hold everything. . .forget about game. . .cover irregularity of the sun.”
Over the years this example has kept us from attempting any description the big yellow orb way up in the sky, but we digress. Rachel made up for it the very next inning, smacking a bases-loaded triple to the left-centerfield fence, clearing the bases and making it 3-1. Next came this game’s single biggest play when Katie Cassidy hit a routine fly to medium right, Alex Clark making the catch, Rachel tagging and getting thrown out at the plate on the only throw that could’ve possibly gotten her―a perfect one, and on a line to catcher Alison Greenberg.
Decatur kept the pressure on Bassett all day, eventually compiling 10 hits, but could never score again, stranding seven runners.
Meantime Westminster nibbled away, scoring on a two-out infield error on a grounder in the fifth, cutting it to 3-2. In the sixth, Evelyn Stafford led off with a single, and after a dramatic at bat Grace Westin doubled over left fielder Katherine Richter’s head on a 3-2 pitch, tying it 3-3. She was sacrificed to third by third baseman Emma Scott – a player we like a lot, by the way, for the haughty way she hugs the line playing a shallow third, erasing all bunts – then scored what proved to be the winning run on a rare passed ball by Audrey Wheeler. It was a tough break for the gritty freshman, who’s the best Decatur defensive catcher we’ve seen, in at least five years.
But it was even a tougher break for senior right-hander Anna Marianchuk, who didn’t have her best stuff, including her killer drop curve which was inconsistent, but still limited Westminster to 8 hits, only one earned run while striking out five and walking one.

In game two Decatur coaches decided to stick with Anna while Westminster went with its number two starter, Andy Carrandi, the team’s only senior. From the beginning, though she retired Westminster in order in the first, Anna appeared exhausted, and indeed the whole team was visibly devastated by the game one defeat.
Anna was hit about as hard as she’s been hit this season, allowing 10 hits, though she certainly wasn’t helped by four more Decatur errors (the Bulldogs had committed three in the first game). Meantime Carrandi kept Decatur totally out of synch, barely throwing above 50, while using an outstanding off-speed curve that probably checked in under 40 mph. But that enormous speed differential proved impossible for the Bulldogs who never hit the ball out of the infield, struck out 12 times and managed only one hit, an infield shot by Rachel which caromed off Carrandi’s leg and bounded towards short.
On the day Rachel went 3 for 6 with a walk and 3 RBI, while Westminster’s Greenberg (a catcher/leadoff hitter!) went 5 for 8 and seemed to hit lasers every at bat. A good ballplayer there, and we wish Westminster the best of luck even if the school can’t afford lights for its field.
The Wildcats, in advancing to the regional championship, are 19-6 while Decatur is 19-8-1, still looking for a first-ever 20-win season.

October 6, 2014

Bring Yer Flashlights to Westminster; Regional Tourney Showdown Today in Doubleheader

by Bill Banks
It’s been a long drought since our last report and we apologize. Seven games have gone into the hopper since we last wrote and there’s no way we can adequately summarize each and every one.
Most importantly, Saturday at Oakhurst Park Olivia Brozek’s three-run bomb over the left centerfield green monster broke a scoreless tie in the fourth as Decatur rolled to an 8-0 first-round regional tournament victory over Towers. That gives Decatur a program-best 19 wins in 26 games, and sets up Monday’s second-round doubleheader at Westminster.
Saturday’s first round contest in the region 4-AAA tournament was single elimination, but the second round is best two-out-of-three, with Monday’s games at 2:00 and 4:30, and if a third game’s needed it’ll be Tuesday at 4:30. The early start is dictated by the fact our unfortunate Buckhead brethren and sisthren (yeah, we know, that’s not a real word but we like it anyway) do not (unlike air-cooled, tree-lined Oakhurst Park with its state-of-the-art illumination system) have any field lights. With―and we’re quoting the school’s website―“13 academic buildings situated on 180 acres,” there apparently weren’t enough leftover Benjamins for softball lights, lol. Bring yer flashlights Decatur fans in case one or both games go into extra innings.
As Pres. George W. Bush was known to say, this is no joke. We remember a regional tournament doubleheader two years ago at St. Pius X.’s lightless field, and by the last out Eric Sullivan had mistaken Bill Marianchuk for his wife. Whoa! Very embarrassing.
Saturday’s game opened with no small amount of nail biting. Decatur had easily beaten Towers 11-0 back on August 21, but in this one it was scoreless and after three, with Towers right-hander Kayla Brown holding Decatur hitless over that span. In the fourth Katie Cassidy was hit by a pitch, Audrey Wheeler walked and Olivia unloaded her blast, the first out-of-park homerun for a Bulldog this year and also Liv’s first career long ball.
Needless to say her photographer/father dropped his camera and immediately took off after that homerun ball like Hemingway in “Green Hills of Africa.” He emerged many hours later with his hair (what there is of it) disheveled, hat askew like a hip-hop artist, shoes caked in mud, his face with that haggard but sublime look of triumph. He held up a ball―which he says he plans to put on ebay―but whether it was the actual ball, we have doubts. We saw no certificate of authenticity. This may wind up like the 1951 Bobby Thompson homerun ball where, though many claimed to own it, in truth was forever lost in the mist of history.
(EDITOR’S NOTE/REBUTTAL: Aside from Olivia hitting a home run and my hair being gone…none of the above actually happened)
Decatur wound up batting around in the fourth, scoring five runs then adding three more in the fifth, including a two-run single from freshman Cyerra Burdette. Meantime Anna Marianchuk went the distance, allowed only two hits and Bulldogs head to Westminster 19-6-1, best record in the school’s softball history, and a 10-2 region record.
The Bulldogs are assured a three seed in the state playoffs. But a series victory over Westminster (17-6, 11-1) gives them at least a second seed, and the right to play Blessed Trinity (currently 18-7, 12-0 with a doubleheader vs. Therrell Monday) for the regional championship. By earning either a one or two seed Decatur, for the first time, can actually host a first-round playoff game.
There were two other major highlights this past week: First Coach Gary Anderson had his birthday, coincidentally arriving on the same day as in past years. It is by no means true that Coach Anderson played college football against Red Grange, the Galloping Ghost (we actually tried putting in a phone call to Grange this week before realizing he’d died in 1991 and now truly is a ghost). Heck, by the time Coach A played they even had a single face bar across the helmet. In any case, happy birthday Coach A, and thanks for all the great things you’ve done in 15 years on the scene as Decatur softball coach and co-founder, and all the many girls whose lives you’ve touched.
Second, last Monday was senior night, honoring possibly the most remarkable all-around senior class in program history. Katherine Richter, who started playing softball in the sixth grade, is now the senior class president. Claudia Tansey, who moved to Decatur in middle school, is class treasurer, and Rachel Reed who began her softball career in the fifth grade is secretary. Add to that Summer Sullivan, who began playing in the third grade, and Anna Marianchuk, in fourth, you have a practically unreplaceable quintet. We’ve known these girls since they were still trading Pokemon cards, so it’s almost impossible to fathom that they’re almost finished.
Truth is, if everything goes as it should, there’s still a lot of softball left. In the meantime, while you’re searching for your Westminster flashlights, let’s briefly look back at the last week.
*In the Great Bulldog Bash, Sept. 26-27, Decatur opened with a 6-0 whitewash of Chamblee Friday evening, Summer pitching six innings allowing but one hit. On Saturday the Bulldogs started off beating Lakeside 10-4, with Summer having her best day of the year at the plate going 3 for 4 with two doubles and single. Emma Horne, Rachel Reed and Katie Cassidy had two hits and two RBI each while Olivia went 2 for 3.
In Saturday’s second game Decatur tied Westlake 1-1, another fine pitching performance from Summer who gave up only the one unearned run on six hits while striking out six and walking one in six innings. Summer and Taylor Bryan had the only Decatur hits in the game, and Taylor appeared to score the go-ahead run in the fourth as she scampered home on an errant pitch and was initially called safe. But when Taylor attempted re-touching the plate (she’d already touched it once) the ump flamboyantly reversed his call.
The tourney’s best game by far was the final one against now 20-4 Wesleyan. Cyerra Burdette led off the game smacking a double off the monster, advanced to third on a bunt then scored on Rachel’s ground out. The Bulldogs made it 2-0 in the fifth when Olivia scored on throwing error. In the bottom of the fifth (though played at Oakhurst, Wesleyan was the home team) Wesleyan had runners on first and second with two outs when Riley Henning reached on a Decatur infield error, allowing one run to score, followed by two more hits leading to four unearned runs in Wesleyan’s eventual 4-2 win.
*On Senior Night Monday Decatur routed Berkmar 12-0 with freshman Erin Reed hitting an inside-the-park homerun into the right field corner.
*On Tuesday, Decatur’s sixth game in five days, the Bulldogs turned in a doggone listless performance in a 9-1 defeat at Dunwoody. “Just a bad day,” said Coach Allison Paul. “Our defense was bad, our offense was bad and for the first time this season Anna had an off day pitching. Only thing I can say, I just hope we got a game like that out of our system.”
So that brings you up to snuff as the real season begins Monday on the Westminster campus. If you haven’t been there, the field isn’t that easy to find (don’t look for the light towers), although visitors to Oakhurst have said the same the thing about our park. Our advice, just turn into one of the entrances, keep driving throughout the 180 acres until you see the Sullivan Homes truck, then you know you’ve arrived.

September 24, 2014

Where’s Waldo, er, Wesleyan? Wolves a no show Saturday
Great Bulldog Bash is this Friday/Saturday

by Bill Banks
This strange softball season, with opponents sometimes arriving at Oakhurst Park only minutes before game time – one arrived a half hour after scheduled first pitch – took another twist Saturday morning when Wesleyan didn’t show up at all. We don’t know what exactly happened: the game was listed on Decatur’s schedule and was also listed on Max Preps, but wasn’t listed on Wesleyan’s schedule.
Wesleyan is playing in this weekend’s Friday-Saturday Great American Bulldog Bash. Perhaps, when agreeing to participate in the Bash the school thought it was off the hook for the Saturday game. Whatever the case, it goes down in the books as a DNP and not a forfeit. The official result aside, no question Decatur needed this game against a quality opponent. Since the August 8-9 Jordan Invitation in Columbus, the 15-4 Bulldogs have played only two competitive games. The other 12, including three this past week, have been run-rule shutouts lasting anywhere from three to six innings. Indeed, with only six games left in the regular season Decatur’s only played two games going the full seven-inning duration.
In any case Decatur will get its shot this weekend at the Wolves, now 14-4 and coming off last Thursday’s 5-1 win over Westminster.
Decatur opens play in the Bash Friday at 5:30 p.m. against Chamblee on field 2 at Oakhurst, and will play Wesleyan in the tourney finale Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on field 1. See the Bash’s entire lineup below.
Meantime the girls had three more run-rule victories over regional opponents this past week: 12-0 in four innings last Wednesday over Washington, 15-0 in three innings the next day against McNair, and 13-0 in five innings yesterday (Tuesday) against Maynard Jackson.
Against Washington senior right-hander Summer Sullivan pitched four hitless innings striking out 11 and walking two. Freshman infielder Cyerra Burdette-Long, who’s emerging as this team’s most explosive player, went 3-4 with a triple, double, another double and a fly to deep center that was dropped.
Against McNair the highlights were few, except Carolyn Brooks had a two-run single, followed by Claire Smith’s triple that short-hopped the left-centerfield fence, we think the first hits this year for both.
Against Jackson, Anna Marianchuk went 1 for 2 with a run-scoring double while pitching five hitless innings and striking out 10. Cyerra continued raking, going 2 for 3 with an RBI, while the team’s leading hitter (batting over .550) Katherine Richter went 2 for 2 with a double and an RBI.
Make your plans for this weekend’s Great American Bulldog Bash at historic, tree-lined and (Saturday morning) dew-soaked Oakhurst Park.
Here’s the schedule: (Each game two-hour time limit)

Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Lakeside vs. Wesleyan (F1)
Chamblee vs. Decatur (F2)

Saturday at 8:30 a.m.: Ham and Grits Special
Decatur vs. Lakeside (F1)
Westlake vs. Chamblee (F2)

Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
Decatur vs. Westlake (F1)
Wesleyan vs. Chamblee (F2)

Saturday at 12:30 p.m.: Brunch at Bash
Lakeside vs. Chamblee (F1)
Westlake vs. Wesleyan (F2)

Saturday at 2:30 p.m.: Finally the Finale
Decatur vs. Wesleyan (F1)
Lakeside vs. Westlake (F2)

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September 17, 2014

Bulldogs Drop Heartbreaker to Westminster; Still in Good Shape for a State Playoff Run

Decatur took two of three games last week, running its record to 12-4 as the regular season begins its stretch run with three games this week. There are still a handful of UCMs (uncompetitive messes) remaining, but starting with Saturday’s 10 a.m. game against Wesleyan at gorgeous, air-cooled, tree-lined Oakhurst Park, the schedule begins taking a serious turn.
The Bulldogs opened last week with a tough 1-0 loss to Westminster on Tuesday at Westminster, as good a high school softball game that we’ve seen in a while. The other games were far less memorable, Wednesday’s 15-0 thrashing of Coretta Scott King (your basic UCM) and Thursday’s 8-0 blanking of a battling Therrell squad, giving Decatur nine run-rule shutouts. In 16 games Decatur, remarkably, has played only two that have gone the standard duration of seven innings.
The Westminster loss, though it’s only mid-September, means that Region 4-AAA’s top three seeds are assuredly set with Blessed Trinity (1), Westminster (2) and Decatur (3). It’s practically a certainty Decatur will again play at Westminster in the regional tournament for at least a two-seed in the state tournament, and the right to play BT for the regional championship.
Senior right-hander Anna Marianchuk, who beat Westminster her sophomore year, pitched possibly the best game of her high-career Tuesday, or at least it was a performance on par with her victory over Woodward last year. She gave up three hits but only one was legit, a solidly-struck triple by cleanup hitter (and Westminster pitcher) Emily Basset that sailed over left fielder Katherine Richter’s head.
That led off the second inning, and even still Anna nearly escaped trouble. She got the next two hitters on a pop and strikeout before Grace Weslen hit a short fly to center that could’ve been caught by either centerfielder Emma Horne or shortstop Summer Sullivan, but both pulled up short and the ball dropped scoring the only run of the game.
Decatur’s best shot at scoring came in the sixth on a leadoff single from Emma, who had two of Decatur’s four hits in this one. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Sullivan, then to third on a wild pitch. But Rachel Reed fanned, and with two outs Anna hit a sinking liner to right that was picked off inches from the ground by right fielder Alex Clark.
In Decatur’s seventh, freshman Katie Cassidy led off with a single to left, and was replaced by fellow freshman Cyerra “Lightning Legs” Burdette. One out later with yet another freshman, Audrey Wheeler, batting, Cyerra stole second, but as she was getting off the ground she took her foot off the bag and was tagged out. It’s definitely a freshman mistake for failing to call timeout, but one easily forgiven―Cyerra will help win more than few games before her career’s over. In any case, two pitches later Wheeler struck out to end matters.
Anna went the distance (six innings) yielding an equitable blend of eight air outs, six ground outs and four strikeouts while walking two, neither of which hurt her.
The next day’s game was the 15-0 job over King, with Decatur piling up all those runs with all of two hits, both triples, from those freshmen phenoms Burdette and Cassidy. There is nothing more to say about this one.
The Therrell game was a little better (but not much), and Decatur was actually held to one hit through four innings by Therrell right hander Dumas (we don’t have a first name), who’s gifted with uncommon arm speed, though she’s very raw with little movement no change of speeds. Richter had the first hit off Dumas, an infield single in the third, and eventually went 3 for 3. Rachel Reed had a two-run double in the sixth, the game’s only extra base hit, and there was frankly little else of interest in this one.
Anna had little trouble, allowing only an infield hit in the fourth while striking out nine and walking no one in six innings.
Games this week are Wednesday’s makeup against Washington and Thursday against McNair, both at Oakhurst with first pitch at 5:30. As mentioned Saturday’s game is 10 a.m. against traditional AA power Wesleyan, now 12-4 though the Wolves were womanhandled last Saturday by Blessed Trinity 13-1, the only common opponent these two share (Decatur was beaten 5-4 by BT on August 12).
On a somber note or, accurately, a blue note, we want to remind you this week marks the 33rdanniversary of the death of bluesman and folk singer Furry Lewis, possibly the first guitarist ever – in the 1920s―to play the instrument behind his head, long before Jimi Hendrix. We suggest that Decatur softball Music Coordinator Cinnamon Sullivan cue up two of Furry’s late twenties classics, “Casey Jones” and the exquisite “John Henry” (who, as a little baby, sat on his daddy’s knee) the next time a Decatur opponent shows up late which, we’re certain, will happen sooner rather than later.
See you this week at Oakhurst.

September 2, 2014

Decatur Softball Wins Three More Easy Ones

by Bill Banks
For those who think Lee Harvey Oswald was, by self-description, a “patsy,” check out Decatur’s 2014 softball schedule for the true patsies. The Bulldogs ran off three more victories this week against overwhelmed, uncompetitive opponents. The finals: 17-0 over Cedar Grove on Monday, 9-0 over South Atlanta Tuesday, and 17-0 over a particularly hapless Douglass squad on Thursday. These games lasted, respectively, four, five and three innings.
Decatur’s now won seven straight since its heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Blessed Trinity on August 12. All seven have been run-rule jobs, and each has been shutout. None have been remotely easy on the eye of a true softball fan.
Reader, this is painful stuff to watch and, worse, it gives absolutely no indication of how much a very good Decatur team has improved. We’ve written before that for the most part the coaches’ hands are tied, having inherited a watered-down Region 4-AAA that’s top heavy in football and boys basketball and not much else. Here are some of the shenanigans we’ve witness in the last 10 days or so:
*On August 21 Towers showed up at Oakhurst Park for a regional game about 10 minutes before game time (Decatur usually arrives an hour or 90 minutes prior to first pitch), and after some hasty warmups, and even though it had some talented players, got thumped 11-0.
*Cedar Grove did show up for last Monday’s game―after all it was their home game―but this is the same school that was a no-show at Oakhurst last fall for no less than a regional tournament game.
*On Thursday Douglass arrived a half hour after the 5:30 start time, and only minutes before A mandatory forfeit which, frankly, would’ve been the merciful route.
*At South Atlanta on Tuesday the home plate umpire seemed sincerely befuddled by the entire game in general, and by the rules in particular. At one point the South Atlanta coach stormed out to argue a call, which was painful to watch considering his (the umpire’s) perpetual confusion. It was even painful for the South Atlanta third baseman who began yelling at her own coach, “Leave that man alone.”
Decatur head coach Allison Paul firmly disagrees the tepid schedule is hurting her team. She points out there are tougher non-region games down the road, particularly in the Sept. 26-27 Decatur Bulldog Bash one week before the conference tournament begins. Foremost she believes it’s paramount to avoid long losing streaks, particularly in early or mid-season, which can devastate a team.
“Our goal,” she said, “is to go to Columbus (the state’s Final Four). “You have an easier time getting there if you go into the state tournament as a one or two seed, which we’ve never done here.”
Looking down the road, the team’s most important regular-season game is September 9 at Westminster, the winner virtually assured a number two seed in the regional tournament that begins Oct. 4. Last week Blessed Trinity, though the calendar had yet to turn into September, essentially wrapped up the one seed with a 10-9 victory over Westminster.
Decatur standouts over the past week include:
*Senior right-hander Anna Marianchuk pitched four more scoreless, hitless innings against Cedar Grove, giving her 21 consecutive scoreless innings – undoubtedly a school record – while allowing only a measly three infield hits.
*Senior shortstop/pitcher Summer Sullivan went 4 for 7 in the three games with three RBI
*Shortstop Cyerra Burdette-Long, another one of the Fab Freshmen, went 3 for 4, including an inside-the park grand salami against Cedar Grove, a line drive that split the very-drawn-in outfield. Cyerra has a lively bat and runs like the wind. Keep an eye on this youngster.
*In her first pitching start of the season sophomore Emma Horne pitched three scoreless innings against Douglass, allowing no hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Emma will be vying for one of the main pitching slots on next year’s team.
The Bulldogs, now 10-3, play back-to-back region games this week, Wednesday at Coretta Scott King and Thursday at home against Booker Washington which is also “Westchester Day” at air-cooled, tree-lined Oakhurst Park. First pitch both days is 5:30.

August 25, 2014

Decatur runs record to 7-3; Play three games this week

by Bill Banks
Senior right-hander Anna Marianchuk pitched five more scoreless innings, allowing only a pair of infield hits as Decatur steamed past Towers 11-0 last Thursday at Oakhurst Park. Senior shortstop Summer Sullivan had a pair of doubles going 2 for 2 with a walk, while senior right fielder Rachel Reed went 3 for 3, all singles, as the Bulldogs ran their record to 7-3. Anna, who struck out six and walked no one, has now pitched 17 consecutive scoreless innings, allowing only three hits in that duration, none of which have reached the outfield. “Anna’s improvement has been tremendous,” said Decatur coach Allison Paul. “As a sophomore we saw her improve her velocity, while last year her velocity declined a little but she was throwing more strikes. This year it’s all come together. She’s throwing hard and she’s consistently hitting her spots which means she can now set up hitters.”Though it’s still too early to say definitively, it’s possible the 2014 edition is Decatur’s deepest team ever in 14 years of fastpitch. As Paul points out there’s a sublime blend of talented seniors like Reed, Sullivan and Anna with up-and-comers like freshman third baseman Katie Cassidy who leads the team with 17 RBI, and at this pace will easily break the single-season record. The bench is talented and the lineup’s stacked with contact hitters or as Paul says, “we have different types of hitters. One girl can hit an inside pitch, another hits low pitches and so on. A pitcher facing us has to stay on her toes because of our varied lineup. There’s no set formula for getting us out.” This team’s predominant concern is staying sharp while playing the weakest schedule we’ve seen in a decade of following Decatur softball. The schedule, of course, is almost entirely the byproduct of regional re-alignment, putting Decatur in the woefully inept Region 4-AAA, a 12-team region with only three competitive programs. The region will be top notch in football and boys basketball, but in most other sports it’ll be pretty diluted. This week is a case in point with games Monday at Cedar Grove (a makeup of last week’s rainout), Tuesday at South Atlanta and Thursday home against Douglass (all games at 5:30). If the past is any indication, none will be competitive. Last time we saw Cedar Grove’s field it was barely tolerable, with no infield cutout, and as of late last week Coach Paul wasn’t even sure if Douglass’ team still exists. The Bulldogs have a chance this year to do something they’ve never done, to earn a first or second seed in the state playoffs and thus host a first-round series. There have been years, back in the days of the old Region 6-AA, when good Decatur teams had to fight and claw just to finish fifth in the region, thus missing out on the playoffs as many lesser teams advanced.
This year’s team faces a far different challenge, and will need to take advantage of the very few competitive opportunities they get before the region tournament, with regular-season games against Westminster and Wesleyan, and particularly in the Sept. 26-27 Great Bulldog Bash featuring teams like Wesleyan (again), Mount Vernon Christian, Jackson County, Dunwoody and Lakeside.
Meantime coaches Paul and Gary Anderson will have to make certain this team doesn’t acquire a false sense of security with all the one-sided run-rule victories. Indeed, in ten games so far the Bulldogs have played only one full game, and that was the extra-inning (nine innings) defeat at Blessed Trinity on August 12.

Oakhurst Park Update
One more note before we sign off. We recently talked with Decatur’s Deputy City Manager Hugh Saxon and asked about possible improvements at Oakhurst Park. We’ve long had a fondness for Oakhurst Park, especially after the fields were re-built and reconfigured five years ago. The bathrooms, of course, are another matter. Once, maybe eight years ago, we walked into the so-called “men’s restroom” near the concession stand, took one look and headed straight for bushes. We’ve never even considered going back. That bathroom made a port-a-potty look like King Tut’s palace.
Hugh says there will be some “cosmetic work” on the restrooms this fall, probably after the season, “some small upgrades.” That’s the good news. The bad news is the real overhaul that’s much needed is probably another five years out. Hugh said it’s on the city books, it is planned for and it will happen but not for a good while yet. Eventually the bathrooms, clapboard concession space and aging pavilions will be torn down and rebuilt, with a tentative budget of $2 million.
So, if your child’s in the sixth or seventh grade, you may live to see the changes by the time they’re seniors. We just hope we’re not using the wheelchair ramp by the time they get rebuilt.

August 19, 2014
Busy Schedule Continues with 5:30 Game at Cedar Grove Wednesday
by Bill Banks
Decatur opened the first week of its softball season winning six of nine games capped by a 10-0 victory over Chamblee Monday afternoon at tree-lined, air cooled Oakhurst Park.
Senior right-hander Anna Marianchuk ran her scoreless string to 12 innings shutting out Chamblee (also the Bulldogs) on one measly bunt single over five innings, while walking one and striking out seven. Indeed, that third inning bunt is the only hit Anna’s allowed over the last three games.
Freshman third baseman Katie Cassidy went 2 for 3 at the plate with a single, double and a walloping five RBI.
Let’s backtrack for moment because a lot’s happened even though the season’s only nine days old. We apologize, incidentally, for being tardy in getting out this report, especially considering the impressive start. In one sense this is a veteran squad, with five seniors in the starting lineup, including two deeply experienced senior starting pitchers (Summer Sullivan along with Anna). There’s not a lot of power here – no out-of-park homeruns yet this season – but one through nine these girls put the bat on the ball and are proving to be tough outs in the early going. And we have a feeling that eventually the power will come.
The season opened with the Bulldogs getting a first place finish in the bronze pool of the Jordan Invitation in Columbus on August 8-9. On Friday afternoon the Decatur dropped a 5-4 decision to Crawford County, which eventually won the gold pool, then lost that night 3-2 to Brookstone, which eventually won the silver. The Bulldogs captured the bronze with three wins Saturday, 16-0 over Marion County, 6-4 over Hardaway and 5-3 over Baconton. (see article below)
With only two days off Decatur faced region rival Blessed Trinity last Tuesday and led 4-0 after four innings. These two teams have been playing each other since 2008 and BT had won the previous seven, and most weren’t even close. As Decatur came to bat in the fifth inning, former player Julia Banks turned to Coach Gary Anderson in the dugout and said, “History’s about to be made.” Anderson grimaced, threw up his hands and said, “No, no, please don’t say that.”
He was right. History will have to wait another day. BT scored one in the fifth but still trailed 4-1 heading into the pivotal seventh. Decatur put runners at second and third with one out before Rachel Reed hit a tracer to BT shortstop Katie Nichols who threw to second to double off Katherine Richter and end the threat. The rejuvenated Titans exploded for three in the bottom of the seventh to send this one into extra innings.
Playing under the international tie breaker, where you start the inning with a runner at second, Decatur was unable to bunt the runner to third in either the eighth or ninth. BT won in the bottom of the ninth on a first-pitch double plating the runner from second, thus spoiling Anna’s long (99 pitches), gutsy performance.
The loss, Decatur’s third one-run defeat, was a tough one, but also offered quite a bit hope for down the road. BT, Decatur and Westminster figure to battle it out for the top three seeds in new region 4-AAA. The 12-team region features two six-team sub regions, with Decatur in 4-AAA B, also comprised of BT, Westminster, Washington, Douglas and Therrell. The top four of these 12, determined by the regional tournament beginning Oct. 4, advance to the state playoffs. The Bulldogs can’t face Blessed again until the region tournament, but they have a regular season game at Westminster on Sept. 9 which could prove crucial in regional-tournament seeding. Also, though it’s still very early, keep an eye on today’s BT at Westminster game which could definitely play into that seeding.
After Tuesday’s excruciating loss Decatur bounced back last Thursday to crush hapless North Clayton (a region foe, though in the other sub region) 22-0, a forgettable game except for Anna’s three perfect innings.
On Saturday it was 15-0 over Miller Grove a team that went 21-4 last year, although its two top pitchers have yet to join the team. Decatur combined 10 hits with Miller’s 11 errors to put this one away early. Taylor Bryan went 2 for 2 with a walk, Katherine Richter was 2 for 3, Summer Sullivan and Olivia Brozek each drove in runs with a triple.Meantime Anna pitched four more hitless, scoreless innings, striking out six and walking no one.
The Bulldogs play region foe Cedar Grove at 5:30 Wednesday (like North Clayton, also in 4-AAA A) before returning home Thursday for a 5:30 game with Towers.

August 9, 2014

Decatur Softball Lady Bulldogs Come Out on Top at the Jordan Vocational High School Camrine Tournament at South Commons Softball Center in Columbus, GA
Bronze Pool Champion (3-0 pool record, 3-2 record overall)

Game 1 vs. Crawford County DHS lost 5-4
Game 2 vs. Brookstone DHS lost 3-2

those two games put DHS in the Bronze pool…

Seniors (left to right) Summer Sullivan, Anna Marianchuk, Claudia Tansey, Katherine Ritcher and Rachel Reed celebrate the First Place finish of the Lady Bulldogs in the Jordan Tournament in Columbus, GA. Our girls played 5 games in 95° heat and battled from start to finish. Each game was a team effort and this tournament was a good warm up for the season ahead.

Game 3 vs. Marion County 16-0 DHS win
Game 4 vs. Hardaway High School 5-4 DHS win
Game 5 vs. Baconton County 5-3 DHS win (First Place)

October 28, 2013

DECATUR SOFTBALLERS CLOSE SEASON
Kyle Drenner, Harper Reed chosen for today’s county all-star game
Four others selected to All-County

First off we need to congratulate several of our Bulldogs for making the All-DeKalb County 2013 team in this the first year Decatur was allowed to join the DeKalb County Fastpitch Association, which chose the team. More on that in a moment.
But first a special nod to Kyle Drenner and Harper Reed for their selection to the DeKalb County Senior All-Star Softball Game, also chosen by the DeKalb County Fastpitch Association. The 9-inning game is today (Monday), 4:30 p.m. at Lakeside High pitting the top 15 senior players for the Blue Team vs. the top 15 for the Red.
Kyle and Harper were selected to the Red squad, along with Gary Anderson who’ll be a Red assistant coach. We learned Sunday, however, that Kyle’s still suffering effects from the concussion she incurred back on Oct. 7 against St. Pius X., and won’t be able to play. We hope she’s feeling better soon.
It’s hard believing Kyle and Harper have closed out their varsity careers. We get a little choked up just writing these words. They are two of the finest student athletes/people/positive personalities that we’ve ever known. And we’ve known both since they were mere saplings, and though we aren’t certain, we’re betting we saw both play their first softball games ever. We have a bright, shiny softball sitting next to our computer with a gaggle of signatures, the most prominent reading “Harper R,” when she was in the fifth grade (not sure why Kyle’s not on that ball – we’ll have to look into it).
Lest anyone has concern, there are more Reeds behind Harper. There is Rachel, of course, who’ll be a senior next year, then there’s the dynamo Erin, a rising ninth grader, who’s one of Decatur’s up-and-coming stars, and then there’s that one they keep in the attic . . . wait a minute!―we weren’t supposed to mention her.
We recently learned that Rachel made first-team All-DeKalb Country while Kyle, Katherine Richter and Anna Marianchuk made second team and Summer Sullivan made honorable mention. Meantime junior Claudia Tansey made the All-County Academic Team.
All six will be honored at the All-County Banquet Wednesday October 30, 2013, 6:30 p.m. at Columbia High School.
Decatur closed its toughest season yet – in terms of strength of schedule and most games played in program history – two weeks ago with a pair of 11-0 losses to Franklin County in the first round of the state playoffs. The Bulldogs finish at 12-20, although the entire team excepting Harper and Kyle returns, along with a number of promising eighth graders (rising ninth graders) who should make this team much stronger, deeper and more experienced in 2014.
Franklin went on to blank North Murray 5-0 and 11-0 and advance to Columbus to play Pierce County this Thursday. Look for Franklin to square off against Buford for the AAA championship early next month.
Meantime it was no surprise, given the rebuilding stature of the entire region, that all four Region 6-AAA teams were eliminated in the first round. No. 1 seed Woodward lost to Oconee County 3-2 and 11-4, No. 2 St. Pius X. lost to Morgan 9-1 and 10-0 while No. 3 Blessed Trinity lost to Jackson 3-2, 11-3.
We sign off for now. We look forward over the ensuing months in tracking the progress of our girls playing travel ball, and we especially look forward to the college softball season which begins in early February.
For now, sayonara, happy holidays, happy Halloween and remember: when you’re rounding third heading for home, don’t get tripped up by that third baseman lying in grass.

October 14

Decatur heads to state playoffs for second consecutive year
Drops to fourth seed after Blessed Trinity defeats

After a seven-year itch, Decatur returned to the state playoffs last year for the first time since 2005. This year’s young Bulldog squad, for whom it’s been a rebuilding season, will advance to state once again Wednesday with a best of three series against 8-AAA tournament champions Franklin County.
The series begins with a doubleheader Wednesday at Franklin, first game at 4:30 p.m., second at 6:30. Franklin, 22-6, beat Jackson County 4-3 in the regional championship last Thursday. Max Preps ranks the Lions 19th in the state overall and third in AAA behind Buford and Ringgold. Franklin features a very fine line-drive hitter/pitcher Leigh Beatenbough, along with one of the state’s best centerfielder/slap hitters, Kendsey Chappelear. These are two outstanding young ladies, and Chappelear with her blazing speed is very exciting to watch.
After losing 9-4 and 13-0 to Blessed Trinity Thursday the Bulldogs are now 12-18 (the most games played in school history), going 1-4 in the Region 6-AAA tournament (the single win an Oct. 5 forfeit by Cedar Grove), finishing with a fourth seed. Decatur was one strike away from earning a second seed in the tournament before giving up five seventh-inning runs to St. Pius X. on Sept. 19.

Thursday was a virtual mimeograph (do they still have mimeograph machines?) of what we’ve seen in recent weeks. Decatur played four solid innings of good softball before the attention span went into free fall.
BT opened a 4-0 lead in game one but the Bulldogs battled back in the fourth. Decatur loaded the bases with two singles and a walk before Olivia Brozek, in by far the biggest hit of her freshman season, short hopped the right-center fence with a line drive, three-run triple. Anna Marianchuk drove in Olivia with a base hit tying it at four.

But unfortunately that was the day’s high-water mark. BT took the lead with two in the fifth and three more in the sixth aided by a crucial error in each inning.
Frankly reader, any tape – bootleg or otherwise – of game two should be censored for small children and pets. BT won by five-inning run rule with the Bulldogs committing a season’s-high 13 errors, thus finishing the day with 15 errors in the final seven innings. Decatur managed only two hits (and only nine the entire doubleheader), an infield single by Rachel Reed and a bunt single by Emma Horne. Emma, on her subsequent stolen base, was the only Bulldog to reach second base in the nightcap.
BT leftfielder Makayla Chrismon went 3 for 4 in game two, but the outstanding player all day long was Titans junior shortstop Katie Nichols who went 4 for 8 in the two games with three RBI.
Blessed Trinity, the regular season’s first seed, is a third seed in the state playoffs. Woodward, the regular season’s fourth seed, a team Decatur beat 4-3 on Sept. 5, won the Region 6-AAA tournament Thursday by sweeping St. Pius X. 8-1 and 6-5. The surging War Eagles will play Oconee County in the state’s first round beginning Wednesday.

October 10

Decatur plays for third seed Thursday at Blessed Trinity

Decatur (12-16) plays Blessed Trinity (12-14) for third place in the Region 6-AAA tournament in a best-of-three series beginning with a Thursday doubleheader. Game times are 2:00 p.m. and 4:30 at Blessed Trinity.
Decatur will have to play without senior third baseman and leadoff hitter Kyle Drenner, who left in the fourth inning of Monday’s first game after getting tagged out hard on the jaw. As of Wednesday afternoon she was still having headaches, and cannot be cleared to play until those disappear.
Decatur, the tournament’s third seed, lost 9-4 and 15-7 to second-seeded St. Pius X. Monday afternoon, while first seed BT was stunned by fourth seed Woodward Academy 5-4 and 6-5 on Tuesday, the second game going nine innings.
One thing this week’s action proves, there’s not a whole lot separating this region’s top four teams. A victory in the BT series earns Decatur a third seed in the state playoffs which begin next week.
The Bulldogs lost to BT 15-5 in a five-inning run rule game at Oakhurst Park way back on August 28.
One correction, we said in our last report the Bulldogs had lost 10 in a row which is technically untrue given the 1-0 forfeit victory over Cedar Grove last Saturday. Decatur has lost its last 10 games actually played, the last victory coming on Sept. 17 against McNair.

October 7

A COMEDY OF ERRORS WITHOUT COMEDY
Decatur drops a pair to St. Pius X
Plays for third seed Thursday

Vince Lombardi once said, long ago and before he died, that winning is habit but unfortunately so is losing. This has been a bitter truism of late for Decatur’s softball team, which simply can’t take that definitive step out of the mire.
They’ve been close many times over the course of a losing streak that reached 10 Monday at St. Pius X. with 9-4 and 15-7 defeats in Region 6-AAA’s second round. Although the Bulldogs’ undoing in individual games throughout the streak is varied and complex, the one enduring theme is poor defense, and Monday was no different.
Decatur committed seven errors in game one and an almost incomprehensible 11 more in game two, thoroughly muting any chances the Bulldogs had for comebacks.
The day’s most crucial moment came early, before many spectators had arrived, before the concessions opened and before (much to our annoyance) the restrooms were unlocked (we found a very fine bush).
Decatur opened game one putting its first five runners on base with three walks and two hit batsmen, making it 2-0 with the bases loaded, nobody out. In other words it appeared the Bulldogs had Pius’ jugular all but cut.
At this point SPX pitching Coach Don Coleman (an old friend and an early coach for several past and current Decatur pitchers) replaced starter Lindsay Leiner with soft-tossing sophomore right-hander Ashley Hegwood who, as it turned out, would record every out of both games.
Hegwood and her riseball which barely climbed over 50 mph proved baffling all afternoon to Decatur hitters who couldn’t lay off. She struck out Emma Horne for the first out, than induced Taylor Bryan to line out into an inning-ending double play and the day didn’t get a whole lot better after this, even after the bathrooms opened.
Decatur did manage two second-inning runs, getting two-out singles from Harper Reed and Summer Sullivan, giving Decatur a 4-1 edge. But the Bulldogs managed only two more hits in this game while Pius erupted for four in the second, and two apiece in the fourth (when Decatur committed four errors including the virtually unheard of dropped popup on an infield fly allowing one run to score) and sixth.
Errors weren’t Decatur’s only demons. Junior right-hander Anna Marianchuk went the distance but allowed 14 hits and never had an easy inning. Indeed, SPX was not retired in order in either game, and only had three scoreless innings the entire afternoon. Nine of those game-one hits were produced by the nine, one and two hitters, Lorette Edwards (3 for 4), Carson Travers (3 for 5 with three RBI, and 5 for 9 and 6 RBI in the two games) and Leiner (3 for 4).
In game two SPX roared out to a 6-0 lead against Sullivan after 2½ innings (Pius was the visiting team in the nightcap). The Bulldogs chipped away with a run in the third and four more in the fourth, the big blow a bases-clearing double for Bryan (Decatur’s only extra base hit all day), making it 6-5.
But this was the closest Decatur got to Hegwood all day, who seemed to wield some weird magic wand. Travers’ two out, two-run single made it 8-5 in the fifth, but that was only prelude to Decatur’s total sixth-inning meltdown when SPX scored five runs on only three hits and five Decatur errors.
Decatur had only six more hits in the nightcap with Marianchuk going 2 for 4 with an RBI. Hegwood, whose velocity continued diminishing throughout the long afternoon until it seemed she was throwing slo-pitch speeds, remained nonplussed, though she walked seven and squirmed out of jam after jam, with Decatur leaving seven on base in the final five innings.
Decatur, now 11-16, plays for the tournament’s third seed in best of three series beginning Thursday against the Woodward-Blessed Trinity loser. At this writing we don’t have any information on their Monday doubleheader. They were scheduled to play at 2:30 and 4:45, but we saw a strangely-quiet Woodward coach Greg Mooneyham (who leads the region in questioning umpiring decisions) scouting at SPX up until about 3:00 p.m. when he unobtrusively snuck out of town. If Decatur winds up playing Woodward, the Thursday doubleheader will be at the friendly confines of tree-shaded, romantic, nostalgic and extremely safe Oakhurst Park. We’ll pass on more information as it comes in.
One other note, third baseman and possibly Decatur’s best all-round player this season, senior Kyle Drenner, left in the fourth inning of game one after getting tagged out hard on the jaw while sliding into third. She did not play anymore Monday, likely for concussion precautions. Hopefully she’ll be ready for Thursday.

SOFTBALL PLAYOFF PREVIEW

LET’S PLAY TWO!

Bulldogs play SPX in season’s biggest games

by Bill Banks

Back in the not-so-long-ago days when Wrigley Field didn’t have lights and the Cubs only played day games, our distant cousin, Cubs great Ernie Banks, was fond of saying, “I feel so good, let’s play two.” He reportedly said this one morning during batting practice and a heavily-hung over Joe Pepitone looked up bleary-eyed and peppered Cousin Ernie with some very unsavory comments indeed. “In that case,” said an undaunted Banks, “let’s play three.”
Decatur will only play two Monday at St. Pius X, but they are the two biggest games of the year. On Saturday at Oakhurst Park Cedar Grove forfeited the first-round Region 6-AAA playoff game showing up an hour late, claiming a mix-up over the game time (something that Joe Pepitone himself did on a regular basis).
The nonsense ends Monday, weather permitting, first game at 2:00, second game at 4:30 in a best of three series between the second (SPX) and third seeds. If a third game’s needed it’ll be Tuesday at 4:30 p.m., also at Pius. The series winner plays the winner of fourth-seeded Woodward and first-seeded Blessed Trinity (who also play Monday-Tuesday) in a best-of-three for the regional championship beginning Thursday.
Decatur comes into this one at 11-14 with an eight-game losing streak, but many of those were close games against top level competition. Decatur lost to SPX on September 19 at Oakhurst Park, 5-4, squandering a 4-0 lead in the seventh by giving up five unearned runs.
If Monday’s weather creates havoc and a schedule change’s required, you will read about it here first.

October 3

BULLDOGS PREPARE FOR REGIONAL TOURNAMENT

First game 2:30 p.m. at Oakhurst
Close out regular season with loss to Westminster

The good news is that Decatur’s softball team heads into Saturday’s opener of the Region 6-AAA tournament seeded third, and with far more than a middling chance of winning the whole shebang. The flip side is that the Bulldogs closed the regular season with the food bowl badly needing a refill.
Tuesday Decatur lost 5-1 to Westminster, its eighth-consecutive defeat, and there’s no way to sugar coat that. A number of those game – indeed, an inordinate number – have been close and even heartbreaking. In many ways Tuesday followed a familiar blueprint: Decatur trailed 1-0 with two out in the sixth when Westminster’s Andi Carrardi, who in an earlier game this season homered against Decatur, hit a weak grounder off a gorgeous curveball thrown by Anna Marianchuk. The ball was booted and then kicked allowing two runs to score, the first of four unearned runs that proved the difference.
Without question, and hopefully as a precursor to upcoming games, this was the cleanest game Decatur’s played all year against a top opponent (Westminster is 18-8 and ranked 14th in AA). The Bulldogs committed only three errors, though two of those came in the penultimate sixth.
Decatur’s only run came in the bottom of the sixth when Katherine Richter, who has delivered one big hit after another this season, drove home Kyle Drenner with a single to left. Marianchuk pitched a superb game allowing only four hits (all singles) through seven, walking three (two in the sixth), striking out four and allowing one earned run as Decatur fell to 11-14.
Over the weekend Decatur lost all five games in the Milton Tournament, and again we can’t sugarcoat. As always it’s a grueling tournament – five games in two days — but for the team with resilience can prove excellent preparation for the postseason. The Bulldogs played five teams with combined records of 81-44. Three teams were AAAAAA including one (Pope) with a solid shot at a state title, and another was AA Social Circle which also has a shot.
Friday night Decatur lost to Social Circle (21-7 and ranked fourth statewide) 6-3 and then dropped a 10-2 decision to Woodstock (17-7 and 20thin AAAAAA) after leading 2-0 through five. Saturday featured a 4-0 loss to AAAA Pickens County (14-11), 10-0 to Pope (19-7) and 4-2 to AAAAAA Milton (10-12).
Personally, we were unable to make the Milton Tournament, but on Sunday we talked with Coach Allison Paul to get her perspective.
“Strange as it sounds,” Paul said, “we were in every game for four or five innings, even against Pope. But then there’d be one or two innings where we’d make an error, or the umpire would make a call against us, or our pitcher would leave the ball up. You can’t do that against top-notch teams. We have yet to put together a solid seven innings against a top team except possibly Woodward.
“With us,” she added, “our girls feed off each other a lot, the good and the bad. It’s like one mistake and they tighten up, and that leads to the next mistake. We don’t have somebody like [last year’s shortstop] Chelsea [Hall], who can take over the infield, and talk to them and reassure them, or [last year’s centerfielder] Kendall [Lewis] who did the same thing in the outfield. Nobody has stepped up this year to be the defensive leader.”
The closest game of the weekend, the final one against Milton, came down to two mistakes, Paul said. Marianchuk left a pitch up to the cleanup hitter who hit it off the fence for a two-run double, then later a dropped fly ball led to another run. On the plus side senior Harper Reed went 2 for 3 in that one, barely missing a homerun when her line drive hit the yellow tubing, rolled along it for several feet before dropping back into play.
The coaches continued tinkering with the lineup and defensive configurations. About midway through the tournament freshman Olivia Brozek began starting in right field while Drenner was moved from the three-hole to leadoff, going 2 for 3 against Pope and 3 for 4 against Milton. Freshman Emma Horne, who’d already been moved from center to second base, drove in two runs with a single against Pickens.
“Some of those games,” Paul said, “look bad in the box score. But the one thing I’m proud of, the kids didn’t get down. Our best game was the last game, and by that time I know they were tired physically and mentally. At no time did they lose their passion. These kids are close and they are optimistic, and they are looking forward to the playoffs. We’ve just got to be focused on every pitch and every play from here on.”
These aren’t idle words. Both Paul and Coach Gary Anderson can use Tuesday’s opponent, Westminster, as proof. Last year during one stretch Westminster lost 10 of 12 games and 13 of 17, including a 5-1 loss to Decatur in that same Milton Tournament. But the young Wildcats came together at tournament time and eventually advanced to the AA Final Four in Columbus.Decatur’s 2013 post season begins Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. contest at Oakhurst Park against Cedar Grove, which Decatur beat 16-1 earlier this season. Barring anything singularly weird, Decatur will open a best-of-three against St. Pius X. Monday with a doubleheader, first game at 2:00 p.m. second game at 4:30. If a third game’s needed it’ll be Tuesday at 4:30. All games are at SPX, which beat the Bulldogs 5-4 on September 19. In that one Decatur led 4-0 before committing four seventh-inning errors leading to five unearned tallies.
We can’t sugarcoat that either, but two victories on Monday would pretty much eradicate it.

SEPTEMBER 26

ANOTHER TOUGH ONE!

Bulldogs lose in seventh after huge comeback

If you want to pick just one moment, not just a Senior-Night moment, but one moment in Decatur’s entire softball history, look no further than Monday evening at Oakhurst Park.
After trailing North Springs 10-0 through 2½ innings, Decatur mounted an improbable comeback to nearly pull this one out. With two outs, bases loaded in the sixth inning, the Bulldogs still trailing 11-7, senior Kyle Drenner hit a line drive in the right-center gap. It was one of those moments you see in innumerable bad baseball movies, except here it really happened. North Springs’ right fielder Emma Johnson, who was playing unusually shallow, chased the ball to the fence, seemingly gliding in bad-movie-like slow motion – though she wasn’t, she simply had a long way to go — and by the time her throw was relayed home everybody had circled the bases for a rare inside-the-park grand slam.
With one swing the Bulldogs had come all the back from an ugly start to tie matters at 11, and the crowd exploded with such force the very dugout covers at old Oakhurst were shaking.
But North Spring rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh and won 14-11. It was the second consecutive close, painful, agonizing, icy-spine defeat for Decatur. Tough as it was, however, one can’t ignore the heroic, at bat-by-at bat revival of this entire team which nearly performed the impossible.
The ultimate downfall was an all-to-familiar refrain. Reader, we have written quite a bit about defensive miscues in recent days until we are blue in the face. We don’t like writing about errors. Errors are pedestrian, banal, non-lyrical and anti-poetic. When Ernest Thayer composed “Casey at the Bat,” nowhere in these verses where the sun is shining bright and the band is playing and the hearts are light and yes, where Casey does indeed strike out, does anyone commit an error. When you sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” you warble on about peanuts and crackerjacks, but not one syllable’s wasted on an error.
But errors have hurt this team mightily over these eight losses and it was no different Monday. In the first four innings Decatur committed six errors, and counting a six-inning stretch from the sixth inning Thursday through the fourth inning Monday Decatur committed 13 errors. Against North Springs at least one error was made by every starting infielder save the shortstop, and each starting outfielder, almost as if choreographed, dropped a routine fly.
Given the boots, bobbles, misjudgments and errant throws, North Springs had little trouble constructing a 10-0 lead and 11-3 margin after 4½.
The comeback started innocently enough in the third when Summer Sullivan drove home Drenner with a double to make it 10-1. Two more were plated in the fourth on a double from Katherine Richter and a two-out single from Harper Reed, this team’s only other senior who, along with Kyle, was honored before the game Monday night.
In the fifth Anna Marianchuk and Richter’s back-to-back RBI singles made it 11-5. A bunt single from Carmen Frison loaded the bases, followed by a walk to Harper to make it 11-6. One out later Sullivan brought home Richter with a base hit to center and now it was 11-7 after five.
But it’s the sixth inning that will remain indelible, regardless of this game’s outcome. Part of what made it so dramatic is that the inning was almost over before it started. First there was a line out, then a walk to Marianchuk, then a strikeout. Two outs and a runner on first.
But Frison and Harper walked to load the bases and North Springs changed pitchers, returning to their starter Laura Laupus (who earlier had been replaced by sister Sophia Laupus). Her first hitter was Drenner who promptly smoked a tracer to right-center to clear the bases. Gary Anderson, who was coaching third and whose right-arm wasn’t moving in slow motion, didn’t hesitate waving home Kyle to complete the inside-the-park granny that tied this raucous affair at 11.
Interestingly, rare as it is, this wasn’t Decatur first ITP grand slam – Summer Sullivan had one earlier in the season.
We wish we could end our report here. Of course, we’ve often wished we could’ve met William Faulkner, or that Leonard Cohen could write one song that didn’t expound on how depressed he is, or that the Beatles would get back together (and we’re not talking the “Abbey Road” Beatles either). With Marianchuk tiring North Springs put a three-spot on the board, opening the seventh with two consecutive singles, a line out, two more singles then a dropped pop up (Decatur’s seventh error) and it was now 14-11.
Anna was not as sharp Monday as she’d been several days earlier against SPX, and earlier in the month against Woodward. She did strike out 13 in seven innings, but she allowed 11 hits (all singles) and atypically walked four. Throw in the seven errors and she threw an extraordinary number of pitches, probably in the range of 150 if not more, though we weren’t keeping track.
Decatur didn’t go down without a fight. After two outs the Bulldogs put runners on first and third for freshman pinch hitter Olivia Brozek who, on a 2-2 count ripped a grounder up the middle that couldn’t quite squeak through, shortstop Lauren Winston fielding and stepping on second for the final out.
Decatur, now 11-8, finished with 11 hits as Richter, this team’s hottest hitter, went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI while Sullivan went 3 for 4 with a walk and two RBI. Drenner, of course, had four RBI with her one mighty blow (she also had two walks), while Harper added two more ribeye steaks on a single and two walks.
Decatur plays this Friday and Saturday at North Park in Alpharetta in the Milton Tournament.
Here’s the schedule:
Friday
Social Circle (field 2) 6:00 p.m.
Woodstock (1) 8:00 p.m.
Saturday
Pickens (4) 10:30 a.m.
Pope (4) 1:00 p.m.
Milton (1) 3:00 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 22

SPX Shocks Decatur in Seventh-Inning Comeback
Senior Day Monday at Oakhurst Park

Alas, if ballgames only lasted six innings we’d all be on the beach in Malibu smoking those funny-looking cigars.
But as Decatur learned Thursday afternoon at Oakhurst Park, one mere inning can mean absolutely everything. Decatur coasted into the seventh leading 4-0, and junior right-hander Anna Marianchuk had two outs, a runner on first two strikes on Pius’ nine-hole hitter, freshman Kasey Ketner.
That’s not all. On a 1-2 pitch to Ketner – we were standing directly behind the backstop and saw it all – Anna nailed the outside corner with a curve and the umpire refused to raise his right hand.
Right after that somebody, somewhere, tossed the portable heater into the bathtub. Aided by four Decatur errors, SPX came from behind for a stunning 5-4 victory earning second seed, and therefore home field advantage in the Region 6-AAA tournament.
Now that the dust’s settled, along with the nightmare of Thursday’s finish, the truth is that things really aren’t as bad as they seem. The Bulldogs get a third seed, which is unfortunate. But unless the planets fall out of alignment, or Honey Boo Boo turns in a book report on “The Grapes of Wrath,” they’ll likely get another shot at SPX on the regional tournament.
Here’s the way it lines up: Decatur plays the Cedar-Grove-McNair winner Saturday, October 5 at Oakhurst Park (game time TBA). A win there (Decatur beat McNair 20-0 and Cedar Grove 16-1 during the regular season) and Decatur plays SPX in a best of three series, with a doubleheader on Oct. 7 and, if needed, a single game the next day. All games are at Pius. With a series-victory Decatur can still earn at least second seed, and home field advantage in round one of the state tournament.
Nevertheless Thursday was tough, partly because there wasn’t one play, and certainly not one player that caused the downfall, but a flurry of botched plays, a critical seventh-inning base running mistake and two blown offensive opportunities that all add up to a total team collapse.
Decatur not only led the entire game but dominated it. They couldn’t score in the first despite having runners on first and second with one out, and they couldn’t score again in the fourth when it was first and third and one out. The Bulldogs ultimately stranded nine runners overall, but for the longest time it didn’t seem like any of that would matter.
Decatur broke through with four runs in the fifth. Beginning with Katherine Richter’s line single to left the Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out. Katherine, though she hits ninth, has been this team’s best hitter in the last several weeks, particularly in clutch situations, and she went 2 for 3 on Thursday.
With the bases loaded, Summer Sullivan walked to force home the first run, and Rachel Reed followed with a two-run single, followed by a wild pitch and it was 4-0.
Anna was superb, throwing her screwball with more consistency along with her curve. Through six innings she allowed only three hits, didn’t walk anyone and, despite four errors behind her had only allowed one runner to reach third.
She clearly lost some velocity in the seventh, but this game should’ve over and done with. After the umpire’s blown call (even the Blue’s body language indicated he missed the call) here’s what happened: Ketner reached on an infield fielding error, next came a single, then an infield throwing error, a single with the batter and runners advancing one base on an outfielder throwing error, then another infield fielding error and the game was tied at four.
With runners on first and third and two out, SPX senior Margaret Andros lined a base hit to left-center scoring Sabrina Thomas with the fifth and final run and what ultimately proved the game winner. Every run was unearned.
Decatur had yet another opportunity in the bottom of the seventh. Kyle Drenner led off with a single to center, was forced at second by Summer, then Rachel hit a tough hopper wide of third for a single putting runners at first and second with one out. But the rally stalled here, as Taylor Bryan hit a comebacker for the second out (Summer forced at third) and Emma fanned to end matters.
Decatur’s defense remains an enduring mystery. It’s true that in all sports offense is sexier, and in most sports, especially baseball/softball, statistics are far more accurate in gauging true offensive performance. Defensive stats can be very misleading, and sometimes good defense, like good officiating, gets overlooked. But almost every coach in every single sport will tell you that defense wins games. What can’t be overlooked on this team is that only two regulars have fielding percentages above .900 for the season. On Thursday Decatur made four errors in the final inning, six in the final two innings and eight in the game.
Without question there’s a silver lining to Thursday’s downer. In the end this was only a regular-season game with the really big games yet to be played. Painful as it was, this is a game players can learn from, and coaches can draw upon for teaching purposes. This was a game with pressure situations, where players must execute fundamentals they’ve been taught, but they must do so when the game’s on the line, as opposed to during practice or during a one-sided a game. No amount of practice can replicate the experience gained in a tightly-played game before a screaming crowd where every pitch counts.
Losing 5-4 to SPX in front of a large, raucous home crowd is far more valuable than beating McNair 20-0, or beating Cedar Grove, or beating Mays, etc. The most important thing you learn over all others is that you will do anything to keep it from happening again. This was a game where players grow. How Decatur grows remains to be seen over the next three weeks.
First up is Monday’s Senior Day game against North Springs, 5:30 p.m. at Oakhurst, where we’ll honor Harper Reed and Kyle Drenner about one half-hour before game time.

September 18

BULLDOGS PLAY FOR SECOND SEED THURSDAY AT OAKHURST
Plus: Wrap-Up of the past week’s three-out-of-four victories

Decatur plays its biggest game to date Thursday against St. Pius X. at Oakhurst Park, first pitch 5:30. Both Pius and Decatur are 4-1, tied for second in region 6-AAA behind Blessed Trinity’s 6-0. With its 14-6 win over Pius Tuesday, BT has already wrapped up first seed in the regional tournament which begins October 5. If the Bulldogs win Thursday it ensures a second seed and home field advantage in the tournament where they’d likely play Pius X again in a best-of-three beginning Monday, October 7. A first- or second-place finish in regional play ensures home field advantage for round one of the state playoffs.But that’s jumping ahead maybe a little too much. Decatur is 11-6, but nearly six weeks into this season there are still a lot of unanswered questions about this team. For instance, is the real Decatur team the one you see behind Door #1, the one that that fought and scraped and came from behind to beat Woodward 4-3 on September 5.
Or is it the one behind enigmatic Door #2 that suffered a nuclear meltdown in last Saturday’s 14-2 loss to South Gwinnett.
We don’t pretend to have the answers. Frankly, we were stunned by Saturday’s collapse and prefer to think it an anomaly. Head Coach Allison Paul told us, “We had some key people missing Saturday [right-handed pitcher Anna Marianchuk and red-hot leftfielder Katherine Richer]. We didn’t have Summer [Sullivan] at short (she was pitching), and that hurts the defense. Summer has matured more than just about anyone else, and when she’s at short she’s always out there talking and reassuring the defense.
“What happened Saturday was not because we lack athletes,” she added. “We have the physical tools. What we sometimes lack is the mental part of it.”
Rest assured, there is still plenty softball remaining. After Thursday the Bulldogs play North Springs at home for Senior Day (first pitch 5:30) followed by the Sept. 27-28 Milton Tournament, which typically guarantees a rigorous five games, and is splendid preparation for post-season tournament play. Decatur’s opponents for Milton should be announced later this week.
Remember, due to this year’s rule change, there are no longer any time limits for regular-season tournament games. Each game will either last seven inning or be decided by run rule (a 15-run lead after three innings, 12 after four, 8 after five). Given those rules, and the number of teams typically invited to North Park in Alpharetta, the Milton tournament may ring in the New Year along with Dick Clark (wait a minute! is he still among the living?).
Assuming it doesn’t, Decatur closes the regular season with its makeup game against Westminster, 5 p.m., Oct. 1 at tree-shaded, tree lined and air cooled Oakhurst Park, named by J.D. Powers and a handful of Associates as the fifth-safest softball park in the southeast, not counting Arkansas.
So the Bulldogs have plenty time to right the ship and also surpass their all-time record of 16 victories set last season. Meantime, here’s a recap of the past four games:
Tuesday, Sept. 10 at Oakhurst Park
The Bulldogs run-ruled Mays 17-3 in the first meeting ever between the two schools. Freshman right-hander Emma Horne, making her second varsity start went the duration (four innings), allowing two singles and two earned runs. She also made the defensive play of the game by spearing a liner back to the mound and doubling the runner with a throw to first.
Otherwise, this was your basic UCM (uncompetitive mess), definitely not a sight for sore eyes or, if you wear a patch, a sight for sore eye. But sometimes, even within a landscape of aesthetic disorder, a tiny gem appears on the horizon.
That would be sophomore Carmen Frison who, as most of you know, didn’t play softball the last two years. Early on the rust showed, but lately she’s grabbed our attention. We were impressed with her feisty instincts against Woodward, even though the box score says she went 0 for 4. But the fact is, she turned each plate appearance into a battle, seeing anywhere from 7 to 9 pitches every time up.
On Tuesday that feistiness translated into base hits. She walked once and the other two times, after long at bats, hit routine grounders to short. A lefty slapper with blistering speed, she beat both throws easily for hits. The key for Carmen is putting the ball the in play. If she does that, her legs will do the rest, and she could prove a particularly delicious weapon for the Bulldogs down the stretch.
Anna Marianchuk went 2 for 2 with a walk, including a first-inning single, accompanied by a pair of errors allowing her to circle the bases, and a third-inning double laced down the left-field line and fair by about a foot fair. Summer Sullivan and Rachel Reed had solid singles to the outfield, and both drove in a pair of runs. Horne, another speedster, also had an infield hit and RBI.
Thursday, Sept. 12 at Cedar Grove
The Bulldogs beat Cedar Grove 16-1 by four-inning run rule. Succinctly, this game’s entertainment value ranks with Honey Boo Boo (long rumored to be Coach A’s favorite show) or, worse, Miley Cyrus.
Case in point: In four innings Cedar Grove’s two pitchers combined to walk 11 batters and hit three more. We’d like to say we’ve never seen anything like it, but we have (ibid Mays, two days earlier; ibid McNair five days later). The one saving grace is that it was Decatur’s third regional win in four tries.
The Bulldogs did a particularly poor job of finishing, which concerned Coach Paul. After scoring 12 runs on three hits in the first inning (a slapper to short by Carmen, and line-drive singles to left and center respectively by Rachel Reed and Anna Marianchuk), Decatur went hitless for the final three innings, and even yielded a run on a pair of hits sandwiched around a walk in the fourth. In fact, in one of this game’s many oddities, Cedar Grove had just as many hits (3) as Decatur.
Anna looked sharp early and then, like the rest of us, seemed to lose interest. She went four innings, fanned eight and walked no one.
Sadly, Cedar Grove’s park, basically a backstop and a whole bunch of infield grass, did not get ranked among the Southeast’s safest parks by J.D. Powers and a couple of distant cousins.
Saturday, Sept. 14 at Oakhurst Park
Final: South Gwinnett 14, Decatur 2. South Gwinnett (now 8-12) came into this one at 6-12, but they also play in Region 8-AAAAAA, probably the state’s toughest softball region, which at one time had five among the state’s top ten AAAAAA schools. Coached by Audra Thomas, one of Georgia’s premier hitting and catching instructors – and, admittedly, one of our favorite coaches — South often lacks the talent of its regional rivals but is always fundamentally impeccable.
On Saturday at high noon South G. opened with a five-run first and never looked back. Summer was spotty early on, even appearing as if she hadn’t warmed up enough. But then she settled down, struck out five in a row at one point – including South’s top four hitters – but received little help from her defense. Frankly, we thought Summer had pretty good stuff from the late first inning on, but Decatur committed nine errors, including an almost incomprehensible eight in the final two innings when South scored nine times. Basically most of the runs were unearned, but it’s hard to know for sure. Bill James, the godfather of sabermetrics, would’ve had trouble scoring this one. Our own scorebook looks like road kill run amuck.
“Defense is definitely a mental thing,” Paul said. “You have to want it, you have to want the ball hit to you. Some of our girls still get nervous if the ball’s hit to them.”
South Gwinnett pitch Jessica Stokes went the distance (five innings) walking three and striking out six (although the final three Ks came against Bulldog reserves). She allowed only two hits, a bunt single to Rachel Reed and a rocket double to left-center by sophomore Kierra Edge, her first varsity hit.
The week ended with Decatur scratching out only those two hits in its last eight innings.
Tuesday, Sept. 17 at McNair
This was blessedly (not to be confused with Blessed Trinity) the final UCM of the season, with Decatur besting region foe McNair 20-0. From here on, loyal reader, the games are for keeps.
Summer pitched all three innings and fanned all nine hitters. On a field that didn’t have an outfield fence (whoa! – not very safe), freshman Olivia Brozek smacked one over the left-fielder’s head for an inside-the-park homer, her first varsity homer. Down the road we expect Olivia to hit many more, particularly the kind that goes over fences.
“We are definitely still experimenting with this team, with both defensive positions and the lineup,” Paul said. “There’s still time for girls to win starting jobs. This next week to 10 days will tell us a lot.”

September 9

Katherine K.O.s Woodward with sixth-inning double

Decatur assistant Gary Anderson, who founded the school’s softball program in 2001, speculated Thursday afternoon that this 2013 outfit, heading into this week at 8-5 and 2-1, is his best hitting team ever. Throughout the years the program’s had a several outstanding individual players who could flat rake. But when it comes to the entire lineup, a collective attack with one through nine equally adept, you can see Coach A’s point.
Take Thursday against Woodward Academy, a mini-seminar in Rakeology 101. Decatur racked up nine hits, every starter save two reached base via a walk or hit, and even sophomore Carmen Frison, who went 0 for 4, seemed to have an eight- or nine-pitch at bat each time up. The coup de grace, as we say in polite European company, was delivered by the team’s number nine hitter.
Junior left fielder Katherine Richter had two hits Thursday, but her two-out, sixth-inning double to the left-center alley capped Decatur’s three-run rally and come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Woodward.
“I’m telling you,” Decatur head coach Allison Paul said after the game, “Katherine loves pressure situations. Don’t ask me to explain it, but she does.”
It was Decatur’s first ever win over Woodward on the varsity, junior varsity or middle school level, and it was particularly satisfying after three tough losses to the War Eagles and their gritty right-handed junior pitcher Ashley Mulaik last year.
It was also Decatur’s sixth win in the last three seasons over a private school. After Kylie Ainslie’s game-winning RBI to beat Lovett in 2005, the Bulldogs went more than five years (until August 25, 2011’s 2-0 win over Wesleyan) without a sniff against the privateers.
More important it puts the Bulldogs, not only in the thick of a playoff berth, but gives them a legitimate shot at a one or two seed and therefore home field advantage in the first rounds of both the regional and state playoffs.
Decatur lost three players to graduation, but the other key teams in Region 6-AAA lost many more. St. Pius X (currently an almost improbable 1-7) graduated 10, Blessed Trinity seven starters and Woodward seven starters who combined for a mind-boggling 150 stolen bases in 2012 (Woodward only starts one senior on the current team, and there isn’t much speed).
Decatur, with two seniors, five juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen, has spunk, it has the bats, and it has solid pitching. On Thursday junior right-hander Anna Marianchuk turned in unquestionably the best performance of her varsity career going seven innings, allowing only one earned run, three hits – two of those to returning all-region third baseman Madison McGarrah – walking four, striking out nine.
What this season will boil down to is catching and throwing. On Thursday Decatur committed three errors (not counting a botched infield pop, technically a hit), which is still too many for a varsity team, but a significant improvement over, say, the 12 against Dunwoody and nine against Blessed Trinity in an embarrassing 15-5 loss (by comparison Blessed beat Woodward two weeks ago only 4-3). Add to that the six errors in Tuesday’s listless 8-0 loss to Pace, the yin to Thursday’s yang.
Something that haunts the Bulldogs this season is the dubious facility for making two errors or more on one play. This happened again in the third inning Thursday, with two miscues on a routine grounder leading to a run that gave Woodward a 2-0 lead.
The Dogs cut it in half in the fourth when Kyle Drenner led off with a rope single to left. Two outs later with Drenner now languishing at third, freshman phenom Emma Horne smoked a liner over the left-fielder’s head for a triple and Decatur’s first score.
Woodward made it 3-1 in the fifth on a two-base throwing error followed by a two-out single by McGarrah, a lightning bolt up the middle.
Though five Mulaik was her usual stingy self, using an effective curve, occasional rise and a body-freezing change in allowing only the one run on four hits and one walk.
That all changed in the sixth. With one out Rachel Reed reached on an infield dribbler down the third base line. Horne sacrificed her to second, a strange strategy to our thinking, although Anderson explained later, “Emma was supposed to drag it [for a hit] and not sacrifice. After her triple the infield was playing back so I wanted her to [bunt].”
With two outs, runner on second, Taylor Bryan smote a moon beam over short cutting it to 3-2. Then coaches Paul and Anderson decided to roll the dice, having Bryan flee for second on a hit-and-run. Reader, if this ploy failed, and if this were New York, the media – particularly the talk-show hosts with their jangled accents — would’ve had the heads of both coaches.
But it didn’t fail (and, thankfully, this isn’t New York), and in fact proved a stroke of genius. As Woodward’s second baseman broke to cover the bag Marianchuk hit a routine grounder through the 2B’s vacated position that not only went to the outfield but rolled all the way to the wall for triple, Bryan scampering home to tie things up at three.
Next came Richter, who’s been hot. She had single in the fifth (and later a brazen steal of third) and also the only Decatur hit two days earlier against Pace. With Marianchuk on third Richter’s crisply-stroked double in the gap scored her easily giving Decatur its first lead all day.
But this one was far from over.
In the bottom of the sixth Woodward loaded the bags with one out on a walk and hit batsman sandwiched around that untouched, easily catchable pop we mentioned earlier. Anna, who never ever seems to change expression, promptly fanned the nine-hole hitter before inducing leadoff hitter Mulaik to hit into a force play.
|The seventh, featuring Woodward’s 2-3-4 hitters, started with a strikeout looking of Mattie Richardson, a ground out from the extremely fearsome McGarrah (only a sophomore, folks), followed by the dramatic final strikeout on a curve of the nearly-fearsome Molly Monigle.
Easy as pie.
Though it is fall break, the Bulldogs have a very busy week beginning with Mays on Wednesday, Cedar Grove in a regional tilt Thursday – first pitch for both at 5:30 – and South Gwinnett Saturday at noon. All three are at the tree-shaded friendly confines of Oakhurst Park, recently named the fifth safest softball park in the southeast (not counting Arkansas) by J.D. Power and some associates.
Okay we admit making that last part up simply because we enjoy amusing ourselves. See you at the yard this week.

September 1

Bulldogs split first two regional games

Decatur opened its regional schedule last week, losing to Blessed Trinity 15-5 on Tuesday, and beating Towers 19-1 on Thursday. The Bulldogs, now 7-4 and 1-1, play two games this week, against Pace (a non-region game) at the Pace Warren Road Fields Facility and Thursday at region rival Woodward. First pitch is 5:30 p.m. both games.
Reader, there is no way we can sugar coat what we’re about to say. We don’t like being grouchy, or irritable, we really don’t. Like most people in their right minds, we enjoy a good laugh, a good meal, and making the occasional sarcastic remark about Slim Whitman or Jimmy Buffett.
But Decatur’s defense continues to defy the imagination. We know this has to be particularly painful for Coach Gary Anderson, who’s a defensive maestro. We’ve watched his practices for nearly 10 years and he is obsessive about defensive detail, glove work, foot work, correct throwing technique, and knowing game situations ahead of time. He and head coach Allison Paul continue shuffling players to various positions trying to find the ideal defensive comfort zone.
But after committing nine errors in six innings during an 11-5 loss to Wesleyan on August 24, the Bulldogs made seven more in five innings in a run-rule loss to Blessed Trinity.
BT is the defending the Region 6-AAA champs, but it also lost seven starters to graduation which means, folks, this is the year to get them. But in the first inning a dropped throw and two poor throws led to six runs and this one was over before the sun had time to scoot behind the massive canopy at air-cooled, tree-shaded and extremely safe Oakhurst Park.
There were definitely some offensive highlights. In fact the single most gratifying aspect to this season so far has been the hitting improvement in so many of our players. Coming into this week Decatur has a team batting average of .359.
After her sister Rachel hit one out against Druid Hills two weeks ago, in the first inning senior Harper Reed lifted one over the 23-foot Green Monster for her first out-of-park tater. Fittingly, about five minutes later their father Ron Reed arrived at the park. When told what happened he said, “Maybe I better leave. They always hit a homerun when I’m not here.”
Decatur managed eight hits on the day, though none by Rachel, the team’s leading hitter, her first Ofer since the season’s first game. Junior Kyle Drenner had one of her best days ever at the plate going 3 for 3 with a pair of doubles.
On Thursday Decatur bounced back with the three-inning run rule win over Towers. Freshman right-hander Emma Horne, normally a centerfielder, made her pitching debut, going three innings, allowing one hit and one unearned run.
Rachel – the team’s leading hitter with a .528 average — went two for two with a pair of doubles, both off the monster, the second double off the very top (we don’t think Ron saw that one either), and drove in three runs for a team-high 17 RBI. Rapidly-improving sophomore Taylor Bryan had a pair of singles and an RBI, while Harper Reed, Summer Sullivan and Olivia Brozek contributed singles. Summer, who’s second on the team with 15 RBI, also walked twice for a team-high 12.
One oddity about this game, Towers pitchers hit four batters, all in the second inning. It’s a good thing this wasn’t a Braves-Nationals game or it’s no telling how many brawls would’ve erupted throughout the normally extremely-safe Oakhurst Park.
The Bulldogs return home to play to play a non-region game against Mays next Wednesday (Sept. 11), 5:30 p.m.

August 25, 2013Saturday morning at Wesleyan Decatur played as if August 24 were December 24, giftwrapping nine errors that turned a very winnable game into an 11-5 loss.
Undeniably this team’s offense has been its biggest surprise. As recently as three weeks ago Coach Gary Anderson worried about his team’s bats, and who was going to fill the void left by three graduating players who combined for all of last year’s homeruns, most of its stolen bases and roughly 80 percent of its run production.
As it turns out, nearly everyone’s contributed, and it was no different Saturday as all but one Decatur starter reached base at least once. The Bulldogs managed five hits off Wesleyan’s senior right-hander Dacia Jones, who also walked five batters and hit two more. Decatur could’ve taken better advantage of its 14 base runners total (counting two Wesleyan errors), but the point here is that the Bulldogs are consistently putting bodies on base, and in many cases driving those runners home. Junior Summer Sullivan, who’s obviously taking advantage of that basement batting cage her dad built, may be the most improved hitter in the state. In the first inning she gave Decatur an early 1-0 edge with a sacrifice fly. In the third she drove in two more with a rocket double to left, later scoring (along with Harper Reed) when Rachel Reed plunked a double over the left fielder’s head, cutting Wesleyan’s lead to 6-5, the closest Decatur would get from here on in.
Summer hit the ball even harder in the fifth, singling to left though she was ultimately stranded.
Meantime freshman Emma Horne sustained her on-base artistry, getting hit in the first, doubling to left in the third and walking in the fourth. Add to this a solidly-stroked single to center by freshman Olivia Brozek in the second and the bottom line, Decatur applied considerable pressure on Jones from first out to last.But all of it was offset by the Bulldogs defense which remains a floating enigma. On Saturday they committed errors in every inning but the sixth.
In the second inning, with one out and a runner on first, Wesleyan’s Emily Farrow hit a routine ground ball that went under our third baseman’s glove, under our shortstop’s glove, then went under the glove of our charging left-fielder and rolled all the way to the wall, which it did not roll under.
Suddenly we thought of Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker, particularly his role in the movie “Major League.” Had this scene been in the movie, we can imagine Uecker saying something like, “For you shut-ins keeping a card at home, that goes down as E5, E6 and . . . yessir, Eeee- 7.”
A varsity team making three errors in one game is careless, much like the plot to “Major League,” but three errors on one play is “Twilight Zone” material. True, as Coach Allison Paul said in our last report, several players are getting used to new positions. Rachel, a fleet-footed outfielder, is playing third for the first time ever while Kyle, a two-year starter at third and, as we all know, a superior athlete, is getting her first taste at short. Further, two freshmen are getting their first varsity action, and clearly – and understandably – nerves are factor.Still, when seven of nine players make errors (or commit a passed ball), it’s a cause for concern, not the least because of the wear and tear the extra outs put on a pitcher’s arm.
Summer turned in a gutty performance in going the distance. She’d be the first to admit her own inconsistency, but the truth is neither she nor Wesleyan’s Jones were given much help by a stingy umpire, who called nothing on the plate’s inner half and rarely called anything on the outer black. She walked six hitters, struck out three, and the bottom of the order (six through nine hitters) was particularly pesky going 4 for 12 with four walks.Still, she did an extraordinary job on Wesleyan’s two best hitters by far, the college bound Jones and centerfielder Landyn Duly who combined went 1 for 8. The only hit, Duly’s measly pop to second in the first, which frankly should’ve been played, was generously scored an infield hit by this soft-hearted scorer.Decatur, 6-3 and ranked ninth in the state last week by Max Preps, is going to have to rebound quickly with a Wednesday game against defending regional champion Blessed Trinity, first pitch 5:30 p.m. at the friendly confines of Oakhurst Park. Best we can tell BT is 4-2 with last week’s game against Wesleyan rained out. This is the first regional game for both teams.
Hopefully first baseman Claudia Tansey and pitcher/infielder Anna Marianchuk, after missing Saturday due to illness, will return to 100 percent by Wednesday.

August 23, 2013Rachel Keeps Raking for 9th-ranked Dogs
Tuesday afternoon Rachel Reed lofted a two-run, third-inning homerun over Druid Hills’ towering left-field fence, her first ever out-of-park homerun, and fortunately Rick Brozek’s omnipresent camera captured it for posterity. As a perplexed Rachel headed for third after her big fly she asked Coach Gary Anderson, “Where is it, where did go?”
If Rachel needs a little work on her homerun trot and overall swag, the homer was simply a continuation of her smokin’ start, 16 for 24 (.667 batting average) in Decatur’s first eight games. In the 13-7 victory over Druid Hills she came within a triple of the cycle going 4 for 4 with two singles, a double, the homer and 3 RBI.Combined with Thursday’s abbreviated 7-0 victory over Berkmar (though halted by rain in the third, normally an incomplete game, both teams agreed to a Decatur victory rather than rescheduling the contest) the Bulldogs have won 6 of their first 8 games and are ranked 9thin this week’s Max Preps AAA state poll.
Without question Decatur’s biggest surprise has been its bats. Despite losing last season’s top three hitters, this has been one of the hottest offensive starts ever by a Decatur team. Both Taylor Bryan (a triple on Thursday) and freshman phenom Emma Horne (a double) are hitting over .500, while the much-improved Summer Sullivan is a shade below that mark. Folks, that’s some serious raking.
Throw in junior Katerine Richter, another greatly improved hitter, who doubled Thursday and doubled off the Druid Hills fence Tuesday.The Bulldogs, however, need dramatic defensive improvement to make a serious state-tournament run, after five more errors Tuesday, added to a whopping, almost unbelievable, 29 errors in the three previous games.
“A lot of that is that some of our girls are getting used to new position,” said Coach Allison Paul. “We’ve gotten some people out of their comfort zone. Kyle’s [Drenner] moved from third to short, Rachel moved from the outfield to third, and Taylor’s still learning to play second. I’ll think we’ll get a lot better. We’re going to need to get better.”
Decatur’s pitching hasn’t been helped by having to get extra outs. Paul believes that junior right-handers Summer Sullivan and Anna Marianchuk comprise the best pitching duo in Region 6-AAA. But the defense needs to tighten up and as Paul says, “Our pitchers need to become more consistent in hitting their spots.“Take Summer on Tuesday [against Druid Hills],” the coached added. “She did a great job against their top three hitters, holding them to 3 for 11. But she gave up hits to some of their hitters at the bottom of the order, which she shouldn’t have done. That’s a matter of focus. Both our pitchers have to be willing to compete against every hitter, no matter where they bat in the order.”
That focus will get tested Saturday with a 10 a.m. game at Wesleyan (the JV plays Wesleyan at noon, and Renfroe plays Wesleyan at 2 p.m.). In no way does this resemble last year’s Wesleyan team that went 31-11 advancing to the AA Final Four. The Wolves are off to an atypically slow start at 2-4 (not counting Thursday’s game against Blessed Trinity, for which we don’t have a result). Wesleyan and Decatur played to a 0-0 tie several weeks ago in the pre-season Wesleyan Invitational. But still this is Wesleyan, a team never easy to beat in its home environs.
The Bulldogs return to the tree-shaded friendly confines of Oakhurst Park Wednesday for a huge early-season game, the regional opener against Blessed Trinity.

August 17, 2013

by Bill Banks
During an intense opening-week flourish, Decatur won four of its first six games, including a runner-up finish in last weekend’s Great Bulldog Bash at air-cooled, tree shaded Oakhurst Park.
Junior left fielder/third baseman Rachel Reed, who finished strong last season, had three-hit games against Druid Hills and Westlake before going 4 for 5 on Wednesday against Dunwoody. Three of those 10 hits were bunt singles and we couldn’t help but think of Renfroe head coach Chuck Lewis. Chuck spent years teaching Rachel, and many others for that matter, the fine art of bunting, and on Wednesday he smiled wide and simply said, “It’s beginning to pay off.”
Against Druid Hills her two-run single spearheaded a four-run first that essentially ended this game before it began. Against Dunwoody she drove in four runs total, including the tying run in the eighth-inning international tiebreaker. When head coach Allison Paul said last week she was looking for “someone to step up,” it was Rachel who, during the season’s first week, took the longest stride.
In the Bulldog Bash Decatur beat Westlake 7-1 and Druid Hills 17-1 on Friday. On Saturday the Bulldogs beat Westlake again 9-6 in a game that took up the better part of an afternoon, mostly because Westlake questioned nearly every umpire call and even one scoring decision. We suspect, given a chance, the Westlake coaches would question where the sun rises in the morning.
In the Bash’s championship game Decatur was beaten by longtime rival Westminster 10-6. On Monday Decatur lost to Norcross 7-1 in a game shortened to five innings by rain. In Wednesday, in a game often played during a downpour, and which took over three hours, the Bulldogs beat Dunwoody 13-12 in eight innings.
Highlights throughout the week include lightning-fast freshman centerfielder Emma Horne going 4 for 4 against Druid Hills while Rachel went 3 for 3 in the same game. Also against Druid Hills junior Summer Sullivan, perhaps this team’s most improved hitter, laced a rare inside-the-park grand slam down the right field line, her first ever varsity homer.
The next day, between endless Westlake pontifications, Rachel went 3-4 and up-and-comer Taylor Bryan went 2 for 2 (including a third-inning double) with two walks and two RBI.
By far the wackiest game was Wednesday against Dunwoody, which not only featured frequent precipitation, but also a rain of errors – Dunwoody committed four, Decatur 12!
The visitors scored in every inning but the seventh, leading 11-8 going into the bottom of the sixth (seven is regulation in softball). Decatur tied it with three in the bottom of the sixth, the crucial hit an infield bleeder to short by sophomore Carmen Frison (she hasn’t played softball in the last two years) scoring Anna Marianchuk.
In the bottom of the eighth, Dunwoody once again leading 12-11, Rachel opened the inning by doubling home Anna (she was automatically placed at second per international tie breaker rules) to tie matters. After a strikeout came back-to-back walks to Olivia Brozek and Emma to load the bases. With one out, the infield and outfield both squeezed in, it was only fitting this game ended on a walk-off error. Harper Reed’s (whose fifth-inning double one-hopped the fence) routine grounder to second was botched as sister Rachel scampered home for the winner.
Though Decatur had several impressive offensive showings through the week, the defense is clearly a major concern, with 29 errors total in the last three games. This not only gives opponents extra outs it creates an immense burden for pitchers. Anna, who battled gamely while pitching the entire game Wednesday, almost certainly threw an extra 80 or 90 pitches because of the errors. Almost all the runs she allowed were unearned.
But Decatur has plenty of time to plug the leaks. This week the Bulldogs play entirely on the road with games at Druid Hills (Tuesday at 5:00 p.m.), Berkmar (Thursday at 5:30) and Wesleyan (a 10:00 a.m. brunch special on Saturday). The Bulldogs return home for their first regional game on Wednesday August 28 against Blessed Trinity.
November 15, 2012

BANQUET WRAPS UP HISTORIC SOFTBALL SEASON

Season produced second state tournament appearance and three first-team all-region players

Decatur’s softball team recently held its season-ending banquet honoring 75 players in the City Schools program, including the Fifth Avenue Academy teams (whose youngest player, Michael Ann Lewis, is only in the third grade) and the three Renfroe Middle School teams, which has more promising athletes then we’ve seen in the decade we’ve been around the program.
But at the top of the heap was Decatur’s varsity team which advanced to the state tournament for the first time since 2005, and only the second time in the school’s 12 varsity seasons. Further the team produced an unprecedented three team all-region players in centerfielder Kendall Lewis (someday she will be known as Michael Ann’s sister), shortstop Chelsea Hall and pitcher/first baseman Julia Banks. All are seniors and all have an excellent shot at all-state honors.
The fourth senior on the 2012 squad was first-time player Sharlie Goodson, an outstanding soccer athlete for DHS, who served as a pinch runner.
Decatur went 16-13-1 this fall, the most games played in school history. There was, admittedly, a letdown to the way this season ended. After the single most exciting day of softball in our memory, a 7-6 and 2-1 doubleheader sweep over St. Pius X on Oct. 4, Decatur traveled to Fannin County on Oct. 10 and had its most disappointing day all year.
The Bulldogs dropped 7-2 and 15-6 decisions to Fannin Co., which itself would finish with a 24-12 season. But Decatur, which played a number of teams equal to or better than its playoff foe, simply wasn’t in top form. Likely the heightened playoff pressure was a factor here. It didn’t help that junior catcher Harper Reed – who, along with sister Rachel, was this team’s most improved position player – went down with a broken finger in the second inning of the first game, a crucial loss.
But the fact is Decatur was taken out of both games early. The drama and pure fun that characterized most of this season were absent that bleak and overcast Wednesday afternoon. There were, however, some very significant highlights, including those from players who’ll play primary roles next season:
• In game one against Fannin Chelsea Hall added an exclamation point to her remarkable season going 3 for 3 with a triple (her fifth) and two runs scored.
• Sophomore pitcher Anna Marianchuk displayed extraordinary fortitude pitching 10.1 of the doubleheader’s 12 innings, including the final 4.1 innings in game 2 after Julia, who started, had to leave with shoulder fatigue. Anna also drove in two runs with a rocket triple to dead center – the hardest hit ball we’ve ever seen leave her bat – in the third inning of game 2.
• Freshman Taylor Bryan went 2 for 4, was walked and hit by a pitch in the two games. This young infielder, with her aggressive plate approach, has a chance to be an outstanding varsity player.
• Junior third baseman Kyle Drenner went 2 for 6 in the doubleheader.
• It was only fitting that in the final two plate appearances of her high school career, the fleet-footed Kendall had infield hits each time.
We must add the Fannin County trip produced more food than any single team has ever traveled with. It was as if several parents had somehow packed away a five-acre organic garden and then harvested it the moment we arrived at the park. Our personal favorite was the very healthy peanut M&Ms provided by Cinnamon Sullivan, who has inspired us to plant our own very green and very organic peanut M&M garden as soon as possible. We hope they all poke their little peanut M&M heads out of the soil by Christmas, and that they bloom in Bulldog blue and gold.
In any case, the dreary overall performance at Fannin County in no way diminishes what this season represents. It’s our guess that years from now we’ll look back at 2012 as the year where Decatur softball set the bar that future teams, populated by some of those youngsters we saw at the banquet earlier this month, will no doubt surpass in seasons to come.
This year also marks another milestone with Julia and Kendall becoming Decatur’s first two players to go through the entire nine-year program beginning with the old Glenwood 4/5 Academy team when both were in the fourth grade. Chelsea came along in the 10th grade, and together here’s a breakdown of their individual All-Region performances.
Kendall Lewis
In her first all-region appearance, Kendall hit .312 with a .390 On Base Percentage and 14 stolen bases, although this only partially explains her value to the Bulldogs. We have never seen anyone, on travel ball or the high school circuit, play a better defensive centerfield. She caught everything, including a few balls any rational person had no right think she’d catch. She caught balls hit over her head, she made shoestring catches when she was racing in at a dead heat, and she made diving catches, including a couple that she snatched in midair where her body was parallel to the ground.
Offensively, Kendall only got better as the season progressed. She had an absolutely unstoppable stretch from August 27 until Sept. 29 when she hit safely in 12 out of 14 games, going 17 for 40 for a .425 average. Most memorably, of course, in her last appearance as a varsity player at Oakhurst Park, she hit a homerun against St. Pius X over the 23-foot high left field fence, the first and only out-of-park homerun in her career.
Julia Banks
In her third consecutive all-region appearance, including the last two on the first team, Julia led the team in batting average (.410), RBI (25) and doubles (11), while hitting four homers with an OBP of .490 and a slugging of .687. On the mound she made 18 starts, going 8-10 with a 2.47 ERA, the lowest of her four years. In 102.1 innings she struck out 101, walked 38 and opponents hit .221 against her.
In starting 89 of 90 varsity games over four years she hit .440, with 96 career hits (in 218 at bats), 29 doubles, 13 homeruns, 69 RBI and a .771 slugging percentage. She became the team’s primary starting pitcher as a sophomore, but over the last two years made 40 starts going 15-24 with a 2.83 ERA in 210 innings.
Julia will sign a letter of intent with Augusta State University this month.
Chelsea Hall
In transforming herself from a sometimes-slap hitter into a legitimate power-hitting terror, Chelsea became one of the best all-around players in the state, a legit five-tool athlete. She hit the first out-of-park homerun of her varsity career on August 16 and finished with a Decatur school record of seven for the season (including one inside-the-park job).
In her second all-region appearance, first on the first team, she hit .397 with 23 RBI while leading the team in homeruns (7 or one homer every 9.7 at bats), on base percentage (.493), slugging (.897), triples (5) and stolen bases (18, probably also a school record).
Playing a wide-ranging shortstop, she was essentially Kendall’s defensive equivalent, not only making those tough plays on ground balls hit into the hole, but turning unreachable pop ups in shallow left, center and foul territory into improbable catches. It was an absolutely remarkable season from this young star who’ll sign a college letter-of-intent sometime in the next few months. She and Julia will play together again next spring and summer with the highly-regarded East Cobb Bullets 18-Gold team.

October 4, 2012

Yes Virginia, There is a State Tournament
Decatur Sweeps St. Pius X for Third Seed in Region 6-AAA

Kendall Lewis and Julia Banks had their first softball practice together eight years ago this fall at Oakhurst Park, when both were mere fourth graders, when Kendall was no bigger than a blade of grass and Julia was. . .well, Julia was slightly larger.
Kendall, we distinctly remember, caught balls in what is best described as ye old pancake style. That is, she held both hands up, caught the ball in her left hand before immediately slapping her right hand over the ball, which she held in a glove that looked like something Rogers Hornsby wore in 1924.
Julia, we recall, was not much interested in catching during that first practice, or doing drills, or learning much about anything. Instead she wandered over to the dugout, picked up a bat and said to coach Chuck Lewis, “I like this. Can I keep it?”
Thursday afternoon, after being teammates on various teams together every year since, both played their final high school games at Oakhurst, and one couldn’t ask for any more drama. If a scriptwriter had invented what happened Thursday, a publisher would likely reject the manuscript as being too sentimental and outlandish.
In game one of a double header against St. Pius X, Kendall lofted a two-run homerun over the 23-foot high leftfield fence, not only her first homerun this year, but her first ever out-of-park homerun on any level. In the second game Julia ripped a homerun to right field that landed on Oakhurst’s second field, and both were crucial in Decatur’s 7-6 and 2-1 victories.
In what both girls agree is their single most exciting day at the home park, at least since the Beatles played Oakhurst in 1964 (just kidding) Decatur secured a number three seed in the Region 6-AAA tournament. Now, for the first time since 2005, when Kendall and Julia were in the fifth grade, Decatur advances to the state tournament, with a best-out-of-three series against Fannin County next Wednesday and Thursday (if necessary).
Things didn’t start out so dramatic, or sentimental, or even very promising.
Sophomore Anna Marianchuck started the first game and gave up three runs right off the bat, including a long two-run homer to left by Pius catcher Sarah (unfortunately, we don’t have last names for any of the Pius girls), who would go 5 for 8 in the two games with three RBI.
Eventually that lead was padded to 5-0 after 3½ before the Bulldogs added two unearned runs without the aid of a hit in the fourth.
In the fifth, with two out, Kyle Drenner reached on an error bringing up Kendall. On a 1-2 pitch she skied one to left that left the yard, and maybe even hit that guy’s house in the East Lake neighborhood behind the park, except it was two feet foul. On the very next pitch she hit it nearly as far, but this time about two feet fair – Decatur’s first hit of the day — and the Bulldogs cut matters to 5-4.
Pius added a sixth run in the sixth, and the score remained 6-4 as Decatur took its final turn in the bottom of the seventh. And reader, they’ll be talking about this inning around Decatur softball campfires for years to come.
Rachel Reed led off with a ground single to left field. One out later Kyle ripped one to the left-center gap, one bouncing the wall as Rachel steamed home cutting it to 6-5.
After Kendall popped to second for the second out, Katherine Richter smoked a single to center driving home Kyle and tying it at six. This brought up Julia, 0 for 3 in this first game, and it didn’t appear to get any better as she hit a fairly routine fly to right. Except it was dropped. We will repeat this for effect: Except it was dropped. Katherine kept on around third easily scoring the winning run to wrap up game one.
If anything, game two was even more tautly played, and if you happened to be a father of either pitcher involved, you may have felt like checking yourself into the emergency room.
True, the game proved a marvelous, gutsy pitching duel between Julia and Pius’ outstanding right-hander Natasha. This is good for fans, not particularly healthy for fathers.
Decatur, the visiting team in the nightcap, scored first when Julia hit a two-out solo homer in the third, her fourth of the season (and the team’s 12th home run, probably a school record). Pius matched the tally when catcher Sarah singled in a run in bottom of the third, and it remained 1-1 until the fifth, an inning that fittingly belonged to Kendall and Julia.
With one out Kendall, batting left (she was hitting right-handed when she hit the game one homer), had a slap double to right just eluding the second baseman. She would finish the day going 3 for 6 with two walks. She was then moved to third on Katherine’s ground out before Julia blooped a single to center driving home the go-ahead run.
This one, however, was far from over. Pius stranded a runner in the fifth, left runners on first and third in the sixth and a runner at first in the seventh, and in fact left nine runners on base total. Julia did hold Pius scoreless the last five innings, but she never had an easy time of it, failing to retire the side in order all afternoon. She went the distance (seven innings), however, giving up seven hits (all singles, and four of those to Sarah), walked one and struck out six.
Decatur is now 16-11-1, in what may be a school record for wins. Meantime, we’ll have more information on next week’s state tournament as we learn the particulars. But for now, we close the curtain on the tree-shaded, air-cooled friendly confines of Oakhurst Park for this season. In the next few weeks Oakhurst will get new bleachers and state-of-the-art lights, amenities that’ll be enjoyed by the next generation of ballers who will, without question, have sizeable footprints to fill.

October 2, 2012

Decatur Drops a Pair to Woodward in Region Tourney
Showdown with St. Pius in Thursday Doubleheader at Oakhurst Park

Decatur’s softball team dropped a heartbreaking 4-3 decision to Woodward Academy in extra innings Tuesday afternoon, before falling apart completely and losing the nightcap 12-1.
Woodward now advances to the Region 6-AA championship Thursday against Blessed Trinity, which took two out of three from St. Pius X.
Decatur will play Pius for the third seed in a Thursday doubleheader at Oakhurst Park. Game times are 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. If a third game’s needed, it’ll be played Friday, also at the tree-shaded, air-cooled friendly confines of Oakhurst.
Tuesday at Woodward started with a bang. Senior shortstop Chelsea Hall led off the second with a long homerun to left-center, setting the Decatur school record with seven in a season, breaking Julia Banks’ mark from last year.
Two innings later Katherine Richter opened the frame with an infield hit and Julia followed with a bullet that just cleared the left-field wall for her third homer this year and 12th of her varsity career.
At this point, behind sophomore Anna Marianchuck’s exemplary pitching Decatur led 3-0.
Anna, who continues getting better and better, especially with an increasing mastery of her curve, pitched a fantastic game, scattering five hits in seven plus innings, walking four and striking out three.
She still led 3 to 2 with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the seventh and last inning.
But Woodward’s leadoff hitter Madison Richardson rolled a ball up the middle that second baseman Summer Sullivan made a fine backhanded play, though her throw to first was a shade late. Richardson promptly stole second and stole third (Woodward swiped 15 out of 15 bases in the two games), and scored on another infield dribbler, this time to short, where Chelsea dove far to her left but could only knock down.
That tied matters at three and sent this one into an international tie breaker where a runner opens the inning at second base for each team. Kyle Drenner bunted Summer to third but the Bulldogs couldn’t move her any further as Kendall Lewis fanned and Katherine grounded to third.
It took Woodward less than a minute to finish this one off in the bottom of the eighth. The War Eagles runner, Tiara Grissom, in the tradition of her father Marquis Grissom, stole third and came home on catcher Harper Reed’s throwing error.
That loss was tough enough, but the worst was yet to come. The second game featured eight Decatur errors (Decatur committed 10 errors in the two games while Woodward committed one) several misjudged flies, two base running mistakes and two umpire call reversals that went against Decatur. It was, in other words, an approximation of that virtually unwatchable movie “Independence Day” where everybody and everything (including aliens, dinosaurs and teenaged vampires, although we might be confusing several movies here) gets blown to smithereens.
It was tied at one through four. Julia drove in the only Decatur run with a two-out double in the third, but after that Decatur would have no more base runners. Frankly, there’s not really a whole lot more we feel like saying about this game. Reader, this is the kind of game that makes us want to build a large public bonfire and toss in every available DVD of “Independence Day.”
Except that we definitely want to give props to Woodward catcher Ann Baldwin who did an outstanding job catching both games, making no errors, allowing no wild pitches, no passed balls and only one stolen base in the two game games. She also went 4 for 6 at the plate with three doubles and three RBI (all in the second game).
For Decatur, now 14-11-1, Thursday is huge, a chance to secure the region’s number three seed with a best of three victory over St. Pius. In their only meeting during the regular season, Decatur won 9-8 in a wildly exciting game at St. Pius on Sept. 20.
The number three seed is crucial because the four seed would almost certainly have to play those recruiting maestros from Buford. Reader, we can’t tell you how much of a pleasure it’s been to go nearly an entire season and not include “Buford” within these reports, or to even think about that school with its numerous out-of-district athletes, its variety of affordable housing for out-of-district parents and its many Applebee’s restaurants for out-of-district fans.
The longer we can keep from thinking about Buford, the better for our mental health and the more benevolent our world view.
Hope to see you out at the yard TODAY. Admission is $3 for students, $5 for adults.

September 29, 2012

Decatur Softball Clinches a State Berth
Doubleheader vs. Woodward on Tuesday, Weather Permitting

Decatur’s softball team clinched a state tournament berth Saturday with a 12-0 run-rule victory (four innings) over Cedar Grove at Oakhurst Park in the first round of the Region 6-AAA tournament. The game was less-than-pretty but got the job done as the Bulldogs now prepare for Tuesday’s regional tournament doubleheader at Woodward against the home school.
The scenario is slightly different from past years, when the region champion and state tournament seeding were determined by a straight double-elimination tournament.This year Decatur plays Woodward while Blessed Trinity plays St. Pius X in a best of three series. The winners meet later in the week to determine one and two seeds, also a best of three series, while the losers meet to determine three and four.
Decatur plays Woodward at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Tuesday. If third game’s needed, it’ll be played Wednesday afternoon, also at Woodward. If Decatur wins this series, it not only advances to the regional championship, it’s assured of a one or two seed, meaning the Bulldogs would host the first round of the state tournament, which begins Oct. 10.Decatur has never hosted a state-tournament game. But merely advancing to the state is monumental enough. Decatur has only one previous state tourney appearance in 12 years of the program’s history, and that was back in 2005.
Decatur lost to Woodward in a mostly taut, cleanly-played game, 3-1, on September 6 at Oakhurst Park. Decatur actually outhit Woodward 4 to 3 in that one (centerfielder Kendall Lewis had three of those, all infield hits), but Woodward scored two runs in the first on a walk, a phantom hit batsman (nobody except the umpire saw it) and a crucial error. In other words, these two teams appear about as evenly matched as it gets. Woodward is 14-5 and Decatur is 14-9-1.On Saturday sophomore, Claudia Tansey lined a pinch-hit two-run double into left field to provide Decatur its run-rule margin and state-tournament berth. Meanwhile Rachel Reed went 1 for 3 with a team-high three RBI, while Katherine Richter and Anna Marianchuck added run-scoring doubles. Sophomore right-hander Summer Sullivan went the distance (4 innings), allowing one infield hit, walking two and striking out nine.

September 24, 2012

Decatur Plays for State Tournament Berth Saturday at Oakhurst

Decatur honored Madison Lewis Monday afternoon unveiling a left field banner displaying her number 2 jersey. That number is currently being worn by her sister Kendall, but will be taken out of commission after this season, meaning it won’t be used again anytime soon.
Unfortunately, in the game that followed Decatur lost to Pace 7-1, a very winnable game highlighted by errors on routine plays, passed balls, base running mistakes and everything else in between. The Pace loss punctuated a two-day breakdown of sorts after Decatur’s lost three of four games Saturday in the Milton Invitational.
The good news is, a new season begins Saturday, with Decatur getting a second chance with a first-ever regional-tournament home game.
Cedar Grove plays McNair in the first game of the Region 6-AAA tournament, Saturday at 2 p.m. within the friendly, tree-shaded environs of Oakhurst Park, and Decatur plays the winner at 4:30. A win here assures the program of its first state-tournament berth since 2005. A win would also mean a Monday afternoon/evening double header at Woodward against teams to be determined.
Decatur run-ruled both McNair and Cedar Grove 15-0 after three innings in earlier games.
The regional tournament is double elimination. Decatur must place in the top four of seven teams to go to the state. Finishing with a one or two seed allows Decatur to host a first-round tournament series beginning October 10.
After reaching a seasonal high point last Thursday and Friday, with victories over St. Pius X and Westminster, respectively 9-8 and 5-1, the Bulldogs lost three of four games Saturday in the Milton Invitational (the one non-defeat was a 5-5 tie with Providence Christian). The losses were 4-0 to Creekview, 6-2 to Pickens County and a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to Roswell.
There was one certifiable highlight, and that came Saturday against Roswell when Chelsea Hall ripped a homerun to centerfield, her sixth, tying Julia Banks for Decatur’s single-season record. Julia hit six last year as a junior.
Decatur is now 13-9-1. To achieve a first or second seed would mean beating either or both Blessed Trinity and Woodward. The Bulldogs lost at Blessed 5-1 back in August, and dropped a tautly-played 3-1 game to Woodward on Sept. 6 at Oakhurst.
This reminder, there will be an admissions charge for Saturday’s game, and all regional tournament games no matter the venue. The charge is $3 for students and $5 for adults. DBB booster club cards will not be accepted for these games.

September 21, 2012

Decatur Beats Longtime Nemesis in Milton Invitational

Twenty-four hours after its biggest victory in seven years, Decatur beat longtime nemesis Westminster Friday, 5-1, in the first game of the Milton Invitational Tournament.
It was Decatur’s first victory over the Buckhead school – a longtime rival in Region 6-AA until this year – since 2007, when the current senior class were seventh graders. It also avenges a 6-2 loss back on August 14.
Varsity assistant and Renfroe head coach Chuck Lewis recalled Friday, “I remember that last time we beat them. We had a middle-school game over on the small field (at Oakhurst Park), and Gary [Anderson] ran over to our side, all pumped up, saying the varsity had just beaten Westminster. I had no idea it would take another five years to do it again.”
Westminster was stifled by sophomore right-hander Anna Marianchuk in her finest varsity performance yet. She went the distance (six innings – the Milton games have 1:15 time limit) allowing only two hits (and only one of those reached the outfield) striking out two, walking no one and particularly taking advantage of her team’s superb defense.
By far the game’s highlight was a sensational diving catch in shallow center by Kendall Lewis in the third inning. It may not have topped that amazing, indescribable play she made against Blessed Trinity back in August, but it was close. Additionally, the left side of the infield was impenetrable as shortstop Chelsea and third baseman Kyle Drenner had seven assists and two putouts between them. Decatur totaled one error in the game.
Decatur is now 13-7 and has four more games Saturday in the Milton tournament at North Park in Alpharetta: Creekview at 10:00 a.m. on field #2, Pickens County at 1:30 p.m. on #3, Providence Christian at 5:00 and Roswell at 6:30 on #1.
Decatur managed little offense against Westminster’s senior right-hander Michelle Bonnot, with two singles apiece from Julia Banks and Chelsea Hall, and a bunt single from Rachel Reed. Julia, Chelsea, Rachel and Taylor Bryan had one RBI apiece. Though Bonnot threw nearly 130 pitches, the Bulldogs never really delivered a knockout punch.
The Bulldogs scored all the runs they needed in the first when Julia singled with two out, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Chelsea’s single to center. After advancing to second on the throw, Chelsea stole third and eventually scored what proved the deciding run on a wild pitch.

September 20, 2012

Overcomin’ in the Gloamin’:
It’s been a long wait/but the Bulldogs are poised/for a berth in state

Can you spell c-o-r-o-n-a-r-y, because Thursday afternoon at St. Pius X a number of fans of both schools looked like they were right on that ragged edge. Matter of fact, Doc Cinnamon Sullivan was deeply worried she wouldn’t have enough arms and hands to perform all the anticipated CPR.
As night descended on Pius’ lightless park, Decatur hung on for an exciting, excruciating, throbbing, agonizing and ultimately joyful 9-8 victory, thus assuring itself of a third seed in next week’s (Sept. 29 through Oct. 4) regional playoffs.
As a third seed, Decatur will play the winner of Cedar Grove-McNair for a state tournament berth, the school’s first since 2005. Both Cedar Grove and McNair are winless and both were run-ruled by the Bulldogs. If Decatur could manage finishing first or second in the regional tourney it could host the first round of the state playoffs.
But first things first. Nothing, and brother we mean nothing, was easy about Thursday’s game. It began with the Bulldogs scoring four runs in the first. Julia Banks drove in Kendall Lewis with a base hit to center, then Chelsea Hall hit a towering homerun to straight away center making it 3-0, Chelsea’s team-leading fifth homer of the year, and third in the last two games.
Later in the inning Anna Marianchuck drove in another with a solid single to left, Decatur led 4-0, and this one looked like everyone could kick back and debate, for instance, how “Hamlet” would’ve turned out had the prince been taking Prozac.
In retrospect, how young and foolish we were.
Pius patiently layered one run in the first, two more in the third, then three in a particularly painful fourth when the home team took a 6-4 lead. Julia, making her 12th start, wasn’t always helped by her defense (four errors in this one), but she wasn’t especially sharp either. Opponents came into this game batting below .200 against her, but Pius had eight hits in this one alone, half of those in the fourth.
Both teams added a run in the sixth, giving Pius a 7-5 lead as Decatur prepared for its final turn.
Katherine Richter led off with a routine grounder that the third baseman uncorked into the parking lot. This brought up Julia, who’d already had a pair of hits, representing the tying run. With the day getting ominously darker by the minute we were reminded of — as we’re sure most our readers were — of Gabby Hartnett’s “Homer in the Gloamin’ “ that sent the Chicago Cubs to the 1938 World Series. Gabby – reportedly a happy, go-lucky fellow unlike, say, Hamlet – hit his big homerun when it was nearly dark, back in the days when Wrigley Field didn’t have lights.
Julia didn’t duplicate Gabby’s feat, though she did the next best thing, hitting a tracer to left center for double that scored Rachel and cut matters to 7-6. After Julia advanced to third on a wild pitch, Chelsea hit a routine fly to shallow left that third-base Coach Gary Anderson had Julia tagging up on, except the left-fielder dropped it and Julia tied the game with Chelsea scooting to second. A moment later she stole third and glided home on the catcher’s throwing error, returning the lead back to Decatur 8-7.
Harper Reed looped a single to right, stole second, and was still there with two out. Kyle Drenner hit a slow grounder to the shortstop, who also unleashed one into environs unknown, and Decatur took a 9-7 advantage into the bottom of the seventh.
Leading off, Pius’ cleanup hitter reached on an error, advanced to second on a bunt, stole third and scored on ground out. With the tying run on third and two out, Pius eight-hole hitter grounded meekly to third to finally end this one in what we might call Decatur’s own Overcomin’ in the Gloamin’. Though none of us Decatur fans could actually see each other, by the time this one was over we were eternally grateful for both the win, and for the fact Doc Sullivan wasn’t needed on this night.
Now 12-5, the Bulldogs have an industrious weekend ahead, playing five games in the Milton Invitational Tournament. The action, all at North Park in Alpharetta, begins with Friday’s rematch against Westminster on field #2, first pitch 5:30. There are four games Saturday: Creekview at 10:00 a.m. on #2, Pickens County at 1:30 p.m. on #3, Providence Christian at 5:00 and Roswell at 6:30 on #1.
Decatur returns to Oakhurst Park for its final regular-season home game Monday against Pace, first pitch at 5:30, with the Madison Lewis Day ceremonies beginning shortly before.
Madison, who began playing softball in the Decatur program as a sixth grader, went on to a stellar varsity and travel ball career. As most of you know, Madison died in car wreck last December at age 19, a devastating blow to Decatur’s entire softball family. It could easily be said that Madison is the beacon for all those who’ve come behind her, even for those girls who never knew her. She played on the first Renfroe team, and today there are now 70 girls grades 4 through 8 following in her footsteps, not counting the current varsity and junior varsity players.
On Monday a banner honoring Madison will be unveiled at Oakhurst Park, and her number 2 (worn this season by her sister Kendall) will be, as coach Anderson explains, “Not retired, but taken out of commission. No one will wear the number in the immediate future.”

September 18, 2012

Chelsea Goes Yard Twice; Rachel Reed Scores a Trifecta in Run-Rule Win

For Decatur’s varsity softball team the easy living has come to an end – time to get off the couch, put away those beloved chips and dip go to work.
Tuesday at Oakhurst Park the Bulldogs run-ruled (three innings) McNair 15-0, improving their record to 11-5 the most wins in a season by the current senior class. Indeed the players in that class and their parents were honored on the field before the game, allowing us to get both quite emotional and our brand-new Nikes quite muddy.
Those seniors, of course, are Sharlie Goodson, Chelsea Hall, Kendall Lewis and Julia Banks.
Sharlie is a blue-chip soccer athlete playing her first year of softball, and in fact got her first varsity hit in the second inning against McNair. Chelsea’s in her third year at Decatur, while Julia and Kendall have been in the Decatur program since the fourth grade when they played for Kendall’s dad, Chuck Lewis. Kendall’s grandparents (Chuck’s parents) Kim and Weezie Lewis, who rarely miss a game, were also on hand.
On Monday, Julia verbaled with Augusta State University, and no doubt Chelsea will announce her college choice soon. Julia and Chelsea will be teammates this fall and next spring and summer on the vaunted East Cobb Bullets Gold.
All four seniors started Tuesday and went a combined 6 for 8. Kendall went 2 for 2 with a walk, Sharlie went 1 for 2 with a bunt single, Julia went 1 for 1 with an RBI and Chelsea went 2 for 3 with 5 RBI.
Chelsea, in fact, hit a pair of homers, the first was a three-run inside-the park job that sailed over the centerfielder’s head, with the fleet shortstop simply blitzing around the bases in a blink. The second left the yard, dropping over the 23-foot tall Wilson Wall, one of the very few to clear that way-too-tall barrier since it was erected in 2010. They were her third and fourth homers of the season.
All that senior thunder was nearly stolen by sophomore outfielder Rachel Reed, probably the most improved hitter on the team, who went 3 for 3 with a pair of RBI.
But as assistant coach Gary Anderson likes saying, it’s time to lace up the gloves. Decatur has an important regional game at St. Pius X Thursday, first pitch at 5:30. It doesn’t get any easier over the weekend with the Bulldogs playing in the Milton Invitational at North Park in Alpharetta. Reader, you will have to look up the directions yourself, but we can tell you with emphatic certainty this park is many, many miles north of both air-cooled, tree-shaded Oakhurst Park and Taqueria del Sol.
Here is this weekend’s schedule: Friday Decatur has a rematch with Westminster on field number 2, game time is 5:30. There are four games Saturday, Creekview at 10:00 a.m. on #2, Pickens County at 1:30 p.m. on #3, Providence Christian at 5:00 and Roswell at 6:30 on #1.
Saturday’s a long day, but the good news is that when the final game ends, there’ll still be plenty of time to get home before Taqueria closes.
The Bulldogs return to Oakhurst Park Monday for their final regular-season home game, against Pace at 5:30. Monday will be Madison Lewis Day at Oakhurst Park.

September 18, 2012

Varsity Softball: Decatur Smacks Cedar Grove
Tuesday’s Senior Day Opens a Busy Week

Decatur’s 15-0 run-rule (three innings) victory over Cedar Grove last Thursday at Oakhurst Park would normally be a footnote to the season except for several reasons:

• It was a region win, giving the Bulldogs a 2-2 mark, good for third place. Decatur needs to place in the region’s top four to earn its first state tournament berth in six years.
• It was the season’s 10th win, equaling the most wins (2009 and last year) for the current senior class, with a good portion of the season still remaining.
• It was only the second varsity start this season for sophomore right-hander Summer Sullivan, and she looked sharp. She walked the first two hitters of the game then promptly closed out matters by striking out the final nine hitters. Though it’s true the opponent was winless (0-8), Summer displayed a velocity we haven’t seen from her, further solidifying Decatur’s pitching depth.

Decatur will need that depth this week. First there’s Tuesday’s game against regional foe McNair (0-5, though it hasn’t reported all its games), which is Senior Day at The Friendly Confines of Air Cooled, Tree Shaded Oakhurst Park. First pitch is 5:30 with ceremonies getting underway at roughly 5 p.m. honoring seniors Sharlie Goodson, Chelsea Hall, Kendall Lewis and Julia Banks.
(All they all really seniors? It seems just the other day when Julia and Kendall were fourth-grade tykes solemnly working on their wrist snaps with some rolled-up socks)
On Thursday Decatur plays a crucial regional game at St. Pius X, surprisingly 3-11, though it’s played a very tough schedule, making that record deceptive. Friday and Saturday the Bulldogs play in the Milton Invitational, an important tournament in terms of seasoning and preparation for the regional tournament that begins Sept. 29. We’re not sure yet who the Milton opponents are, though Decatur’s guaranteed four games.
Against Cedar Grove Decatur had a very unusual, perhaps never-before-seen line score of 15 runs on two hits and no errors. Dude, they don’t make line scores like that, not even for money.
The Cedar Grove pitcher had a dickens of a time locating the strike zone, or even her own catcher’s glove, walking nine in two innings and hitting seven batters. She was exceedingly democratic in her plunking, never hitting any one Bulldog more than once.
Both hits were doubles and they came in in the first, a hustle double to center by Kendall Lewis, and gapper to left-center by Julia Banks.
A couple notable points involving shortstop Chelsea Hall: she was the only Decatur player who played the entire game Thursday and didn’t draw a walk. In fact, she hasn’t had a walk since her first game, against Westminster on August 14. Chelsea comes from a long line of shortstops, particularly those from the Dominican Republic, who have a disdain for walks. They believed you made it to the major leagues by swinging the bat, and the oft-repeated phrase was, “You can’t walk off the island.”
Amazingly, despite the Cedar Grove pitcher’s painful lack of velocity – pitching almost slo-pitch style — Chelsea actually struck out Thursday in the second inning. Now batting .406 with a roaring slugging percentage of .906 (four triples and two homeruns), it was Chelsea’s first strikeout this season in 32 at bats.
That’s about all we can say about this one. It was one of those games where your mind drifts from the present and you begin contemplating, say, the origins of Kabuki theater, or perhaps you recall the game at Dodger Stadium in the late 1960s when an airplane dropped a 100-pound bag of flour, narrowly missing Cincinnati shortstop Woody Woodward (who also didn’t draw many walks).
But we will leave this for another time. See you at Oakhurst Tuesday for Senior Day.

September 6, 2012

Bulldogs softball drop a pair in toughest week of the regular season

In its toughest competitive week of the regular-season so far, and perhaps the toughest all season, Decatur dropped a pair of games that were so vastly dissimilar, one wonders if it was the same Decatur squad playing both games.
On Tuesday the Bulldogs dropped an 18-5 decision to No. 1 (in AA) Wesleyan, a game assistant coach Gary Anderson called “the ugliest defeat in 13 years [of softball at Decatur].” We’re not sure how many errors Decatur committed – we stopped counting after 10 – but we can tell you 15 of Wesleyan’s runs were unearned, perhaps some sort of a dubious record.
In any case, Coach Anderson blamed the whole mess on Julia Banks’ visor, which he wore during that game and promises never to wear again.
On Thursday Decatur played a superior defensive game against regional rival Woodward, but somebody somewhere pushed the mute button on the Bulldog bats during a 3-1 loss.
Yet Decatur had a thrilling, last-gasp chance Thursday. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, and Kendall Lewis on first, Julia represented the tying run and ran the count to 3-2. As our favorite television character and distant relative the Turtle Man would say, this was some serious “LIVE ACTION.”
Julia fouled the first 3-2 pitch straight back, missing a homerun by a hairline, then came even closer on the next pitch, but still missed it, getting under it too much and flying to shallow center for the game-ending out. It was a painful ending, and now we know how the Turtle Man feels when he jumps into a farm pond laced with manure.
Julia and Decatur’s scintillating, poufy-haired shortstop Chelsea Hall combined to go 0-6 (both were hit by pitches, one time each), the first time this season the two have combined to go hitless. Woodward’s right-handed sophomore pitcher (we don’t have her name), limited the Bulldogs to five hits, only one of which (Rachel Reed’s fourth-inning line drive) reached the outfield.This game’s key was the first inning when Julia walked and hit a batter and both scored. This was a tough, controversial sequence, and definitely not LIVE ACTION. During the walk, two pitches appeared to be fairly conventional strikes, but were called balls (yes, we are biased, but we were also sitting behind the plate). The hit batsman was a phantom – we confirmed with both Julia and catcher Harper Reed the ball didn’t come close to hitting the Woodward player. It’s also a pretty good indication when the batter stands there and has to be told by the umpire to take her base.
Though no one knew it at the time, the game was sewed up right then and there.
Decatur had chances, stranding seven runners, and its biggest opportunity came in the sixth. With runners on first and second and one out, Taylor Bryan hit a flair over third that the Woodward shortstop dove, caught and then dropped. The runners were frozen, and the shortstop alertly recovered, threw to third for one force, and the relay to second completed a rare 6-5-4 double play thereby dashing Decatur’s hopes.Kendall went 3 for 4 with three slap hits and Rachel went 2 for 3, and that was pretty much Decatur’s offensive output. Though hitless Chelsea played a superb game defensively, with five putouts including a fifth-inning catch of a pop, where she ranged from short and dived into foul territory on the left-field side to make the play. Just another ho-hum web gem for the senior.
Meanwhile Julia couldn’t overcome the first-inning, though she allowed only three middling singles and struck out seven, and at one point retired 10 straight and 13 of the last 14 hitters.
Tuesday is one of those games we don’t want to really talk about. Decatur managed some offense against Wesleyan with eight hits – Chelsea and Julia both went 2 for 4, Chelsea with two doubles, and Julia with a double that hit the very top of the 23-foot high Wilson Wall in leftfield before bouncing back in play – but those weren’t enough to overcome the tsunami-like wave of errors.What happened is this: before the Wesleyan game Coach Anderson misplaced his Decatur softball hat and couldn’t find it. All he had in his truck was a weak John Deere hat, and an extra-very-weak Georgia Impact hat. He wore Julia’s visor instead, and the result is now a matter of record. Anderson has not only vowed never to wear the visor again, he plans to burn it during a public bonfire next week.
That’s about all that needs to be said about Wesleyan. It reminds us of what Gen. Lee said to General J.E.B. Stuart after he (Stuart) screwed up royally in the days leading up Gettysburg. “General,” Lee told Stuart, “we will not speak of this again.”
Decatur is now 9-5 and plays only one game next week, Thursday against Cedar Grove at air-cooled, tree-shaded Oakhurst Park. Game time is 5:30, and you only need your wallet to buy our tasty concessions, since we are not in Gwinnett County and don’t charge a $5 admission. Next week is Fall Break, so if you’re not heading to one of those unusual and seldom-visited vacation spots like the beach or Disneyworld, stop by Oakhurst on Thursday.August 30, 2012

Decatur Runs Record to 9-3 with Lopsided Win
Big Week at Oakhurst Next Week

Decatur’s 15-0 run rule (three innings) victory over Towers Thursday wasn’t much of a surprise. Though Tower’s program is on the upswing after going 2-29 the last three years, Decatur had little trouble putting this one away in a little over an hour.
It was certainly a surprise to see Decatur super fan Doug Fortenberry who showed up at Towers saying, “It was either this or working on my [golf] swing. I chose this.”
It was good seeing Doug on the scene – his son Jacob, who lettered four years in basketball and is now attending West Georgia, is one of our favorite all-time Decatur athletes. It was also good seeing prodigal varsity assistant/JV/Renfroe Middle School coach Chuck Lewis, whose voice reverberated off the surrounding pines the entire game. It seems like we’ve been hearing that voice for half our life, or at least for the last eight years, and it always seems to amp the girls when he’s in the dugout.
After a nearly three-week stretch on the road, Decatur returns home Tuesday for a 5:30 game against Wesleyan, ranked first in AA. Though a non-regional game, this is always an exciting rivalry, with Wesleyan doubtlessly looking for revenge after losing to Decatur 2-0 last year. On Thursday the Bulldogs have a key regional game against Woodward, also at 5:30. Both games will be played at the air-cooled, tree-shaded friendly confines of Oakhurst Park, featuring the 23-foot high “Wilson Wall” in leftfield, which we personally named in honor of Decatur AD Carter Wilson who, apparently, has a lifelong obsession for Fenway Park.
Decatur’s now 9-3 and 1-1 in the region, and needs one more win to match the most single-season wins by the current senior class.
Thursday was the second straight game for Kendall Lewis playing first base, and more and more it’s looking like the move may become permanent, with Kyle Drenner replacing Kendall in center. With Kendall playing the bag flawlessly, as if she’s been there all her life, this likely gives Decatur its best infield ever, with the much-improved Summer Sullivan at second, the splendiferous Chelsea Hall at short, and Rachel Reed (replacing Kyle) at third. Moving Kendall to first may prove for Decatur what moving Pete Rose from left field to third base proved for the Cincinnati Reds in 1975, transforming a team barely above .500 to a 108-game winner. You can look it up.
There was little drama Thursday with the Bulldogs scoring three in the first and 12 in the second. Katherine Richter and Julia Banks had a pair of hits in the contest, Chelsea had her fourth triple of the young season (to go along with two homeruns), Kendall had a triple, while Rachel, sister Harper Reed and Claudia Tansey all went 1 for 2.
Julia pitched three innings, allowed one single and struck out seven of the 10 hitters she faced.
Next week could likely prove the most challenging week of the regular season so we need big crowds at the yard. And we especially need Michael Ann Lewis back in attendance, even if she is going around claiming to be younger than she really is.

August 28, 2012

Once Again: the Five Dollar Admission Rules
But so does Decatur’s Infield in 6-2 win at Norcross

Man, this five dollar admission Gwinnett County charges for softball games is killing us, especially since we’re always lending out money to Eric Sullivan and Kim Lewis. At least from Kim we get the intellectual stimulation of his lively conversation, but from Eric we mostly get to watch him eat.
Norcross – like South Gwinnett High on Saturday – charged five dollars and then made it pretty darn challenging getting to the ballpark by closing every gate on campus. One almost needed to take MARTA to get from their parking space to the ballpark except, of course, Gwinnett County voters have shot down every form of mass transportation that’s appeared on the ballot over the last 40 years.
To make a long story short, we found the park and Decatur’s softball team found its winning ways in a 6-2 victory Monday afternoon, breaking a two-game losing streak.
Unquestionably the two most satisfying moments were two stunning double plays turned by the infield. Assistant coach Gary Anderson was pretty certain this was a first in the 12-year history of the Decatur program.
The first came in the third inning with one out, runner on first and Decatur leading 5-2. Shortstop Chelsea Hall fielded a hard ground ball, flipped to second baseman Summer Sullivan who made a splendid turn and throw to first to complete the DP. The second came in the seventh, again one out and a runner on first, with a bouncer hit back to pitcher Julia Banks. She made a low throw to second, which Chelsea short-hopped than relayed to first for the game-ending 1-6-3.
Perhaps the unsung hero in this game was senior Kendall Lewis, who played first base for possibly the first time in her life. As mentioned in our previous report, Kendall has been playing a dazzling centerfield all season, so the switch to first on Monday seemed at first a puzzling move from coaches Allison Paul and Gary Anderson.
But considering how the game evolved, the stratagem was ingenious. First base has been a problem spot in the early going, and Kendall instantly patched the holes. As it turned out, the outfield recorded only one putout all afternoon, while 11 outs came from ground balls. Kendall alone had nine putouts, including a few back-handed digs, which she niftily executed as if she’d played the position her whole life.
Julia went the distance (seven innings), allowing four singles, one earned run with six strikeouts and one walk.
Decatur never trailed, scoring three in the second and two in the third. Chelsea went 2 for 4 with a run-scoring triple and a single, while freshman Taylor Bryan continues hitting when she gets playing time, with two infield singles. Kendall had a huge two-run single in the second, Julia went 1 for 4 with a bunt single (about as rare as an unopened bottle of whiskey from George Washington’s stock) and catcher Harper Reed went 1 for 3.
Decatur, now 8-3, closes out August with a 5:30 regional game at Towers on Thursday.
Faithful reader, we need to close with an editorial comment. We’ve been to many high school softball fields, and most aren’t easy to find since they’re usually located at the furthest, most obscure location on a school’s campus. This likely has something to do with the fact softball is a girls sport, and most softball fields were added as an afterthought.
This was certainly the case at Norcross where the field was not only difficult to find, but all the closed gates made it tough getting there. It was explained to us, succinctly, by one attendant that the gates were closed because “There ain’t no parkin’ down there.” We didn’t so much mind the grammatical minefield of this comment since, after all, we were raised in Kentucky and this comment reminds us of the folks back home and truly made us nostalgic for moonshine. But the fact is, there was plenty of “parkin’ down there,” it was just all taken up by Norcross’ 20 assistant football coaches and assorted football factotums.
So meanwhile spectators walked a half mile to pay $5 which goes towards what? Certainly not towards the softball field, where the batter’s box looked like something the late Neil Armstrong landed on in 1969. Perhaps admission revenue goes towards that 20,000-seat football stadium, or to paying salaries for the 20 assistants and assorted factotums.
But in any case, Norcross, a big school with a long history, needs to do better for its girls and the spectators who come watch them.
Having said that, we hope to see you at Towers, or at least next week when the Bulldogs finally return home to play Wesleyan (ranked first in AA) on Tuesday at 5:30 and new regional foe Woodward on Thursday, also at 5:30.
Admission is free to the air-cooled, tree shaded, friendly confines of Oakhurst Park. Parking is available right next to the field and no gates will be closed because there are simply no existing gates to close.

August 27, 2012

Boots and Bats (or Lack thereof) Doom Decatur in Late-Week Games

by Bill Banks
Given the stone-cold excitement of Wednesday 7-3 win over Dunwoody, highlighted by senior shortstop Chelsea Hall’s seventh-inning grand slam breaking a 3-3 tie, perhaps a letdown was inevitable.
Decatur’s young softball team (only three experienced seniors) lost its intensity in late-week road games, first turning in a desultory performance Thursday, losing 5-1 at Blessed Trinity in the regional opener. Although the energy was at a higher level Saturday at South Gwinnett, sloppy defensive play contributed to a 5-3 defeat.
This team’s improved in so many areas over last year it seems unfair to even mention some of last week’s regressive behavior. And the truth be told, there were high points in both games.
Decatur’s unquestioned star in Thursday’s game was senior centerfielder Kendall Lewis. She had a game-opening triple (one of only three hits off B.T. lefty starter M.B. Pring – Chelsea and Harper Reed had the other two, both singles), and scored the game’s only run when Chelsea hit a grounder to short.
She also made three catches, one which was merely outstanding, and the other absolutely phenomenal. That last catch robbed B.T.’s senior catcher M.K. Sullivan of a triple or maybe an inside-the-parker. Kendall dove, her body parallel to the ground, but then at the last second the ball sank and Kendall, her body still in mid-air, reached down and back-handed it off the grass top.
Kendall and fellow senior Julia Banks are the only two active players remaining from the original Glenwood 4/5 Academy team, which started when both were in the fourth grade. Though she’s been an infielder her entire career, Kendall’s long wanted to play center and is finally getting her chance as a senior. In this young season, now 10 games old (Decatur is 7-3), Kendall’s made a number of impressive catches. Julia, who struggled on the mound Thursday, leaving one pitch after another up in the zone, was saved from total disaster by Kendall’s inspired defensive play.
Saturday afternoon, the team travelled to Snellville for a non-region game against AAAAAA South Gwinnett. Earlier this summer we had the opportunity to travel to the Los Angeles area and, during the drive over on Saturday we reflected, with admitted nostalgia, how similar Snellville is to southern California. It’s true, Snellville doesn’t have any beaches, mountains, palm trees, movie stars, surfers, or any Whole Foods groceries and, besides, there are no stars embedded in any of the sidewalks. Well, shoot, you can’t have everything. Outside of these minor aesthetic differences, and possibly a few others, Snellville is practically a dead ringer for the left coast.
One other digression: For those of you who’ve read this space over the years, we’ve occasionally noted that Gwinnett County is the home to endless traffic — thus the similarity to L.A. – endless shopping centers, automobile dealerships, gas stations and now, add to that, the $5 admission charge to high school softball games. In fact, after six years of covering Decatur softball, the only other school system to charge admission to softball is Buford.
No further editorial comment is necessary.
However, we have nothing against South Gwinnett High, or their softball team, and in fact we think very highly of head coach Audra Thomas, whose game plan became clear early on. Beginning in the second inning South unleashed a cavalcade of bunts, eight total on the afternoon. Of South’s four hits off Julia, only one went beyond the infield – indeed, only six balls total were hit to the outfield all day.
Decatur scored first when Kendall reached on an error and one out later Julia lashed a long homerun, easily clearing the left-field wall of an unusually large ballpark. These were the kind of moments – certainly not a bunch of teeny, weeny, annoying bunts – that any spectator in their right mind paying five bucks would want to see.
But the bunts worked and Decatur scored only one more run. That came in the sixth, when Chelsea was hit by a pitch, stole second then scored all the way from second on Harper Reed’s bunt. Muhammad Ali used to say he was so quick he could turn off the light switch in his bedroom and be in bed before the light went out. That’s about how fast Chelsea is.
By this time, however, South Gwinnett had scored all five of its runs, all unearned, mostly on the Decatur infield’s inability to execute bunt plays.
Nevertheless Decatur was still in striking distance when Claudia Tansey led off the seventh with a crisply-stroked single to center. Pinch-runner Sharlie Goodson was bunted to second by Kendall, but with Katherine Richter batting, and with Julia and Chelsea waiting in the wings, Sharlie was called out for leaving second early. Katherine promptly popped out to end matters.
Decatur managed only four hits, with Julia going 2 for 3, Claudia 1 for 3 and Kyle 1 for 3, after smoking a double to left-center in the fourth.
The Bulldogs have little time to dwell on the two-game losing streak, with a 5:30 game at Norcross Monday, and Thursday’s regional game at Towers, also at 5:30. The Bulldogs return home next Tuesday for a game against non-regional rival Wesleyan.

August 22, 2012

Bulldogs Eat Salami in Come-From-Behind Thriller at Dunwoody

by Bill Banks
The late great Seattle Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus had one of the most visceral catch phrases of all time when he’d say, “Get out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma, it is grand salami time.”
On Wednesday at Dunwoody, Decatur’s softball Bulldogs ate the whole sandwich when senior shortstop Chelsea Hall broke a 3-3 tie in the seventh with a one-out grand slam homerun and, Grandma, it tasted mighty fine.
We don’t know the last time a Bulldog hit a salami, but we know we haven’t seen one in six years of covering the team. Chelsea said it was the second one she’s ever hit – recalling that she’d hit one two years ago in travel ball.
But this one capped unquestionably one of the most spine-tingling games in the program’s 12-year history.
Sophomore right-hander Anna Marianchuk threw a superb game, going the distance (7 innings), allowing two earned runs, three hits and two walks while striking out eight as the surging Bulldogs won their seventh game in eight tries.
This sets up today’s regional opener at Blessed Trinity, 5-1 and ranked fourth in AAA. First pitch is 5:55, and though it’s early season, this game could prove vital in seeding for next month’s (Sept. 29-Oct. 4) regional tournament.
Dunwoody scored a pair of runs in the first inning, but the always-tough senior right-hander Stacey Ward (she beat Decatur in a 2-1 nail biter last year in the Milton Invitational) could only make it last until the third.
With two outs Decatur left-fielder Katherine Richter reached on an infield error and Julia Banks followed with her first homerun of the year, a towering drive to right to tie matters at two.
“It hit the sweet spot,” Julia said, “but it felt disgusting. I don’t know how it got out ‘cause it sure felt disgusting.”
We should all feel so unclean and repugnant. For Julia it was her first homer this year, and 10thof her varsity career.
This one settled down to a tense duel between Ward and Anna, before Decatur took its first lead in the sixth. Chelsea reached on a fielder’s choice, blithely stole second, boldly stole third and subsequently cruised home on a catcher’s throwing error to make it 3-2.
Dunwoody retaliated with a run of its own in the bottom of the inning making it 3-3.
This set up the unforgettable seventh, the one they’ll be talking about for years in any delicatessen where good salami’s sold.
Kyle Drenner reached on an error, Kendall Lewis reached on the second of her two bunt hits, and Katherine also had a bunt single. Thus the bases were loaded with no outs and Julia at the plate. “Watch out for the change-up,” coach Gary Anderson told her. Ward had an excellent change all afternoon, but she never threw it here. First came two curves to go 2-0, then three straight rise balls out of the zone and Julia swung and missed all three.
Chelsea followed and was far more economical, looking at only two pitches before smacking one to almost same spot where Julia hit her third-inning blast. For the scintillating five-tool shortstop it was her second long ball this year, and one that drove the good Decatur turnout into a frenzy of piercing screams, awkward high-fives and other disreputable behavior.
Anna set Dunwoody (now 3-4) down in order to preserve the win.
The Bulldogs racked up 11 base hits, with Kendall going 2 for 4, Julia 2 for 4, Anna 2 for 4 (she was robbed of a third hit on a great leaping stab by the shortstop) and Rachel Reed 2 for 3.
Thus far Decatur’s 3-4 combination, the notorious C & J Express, is laying down serious tracks. Through eight games Chelsea (the cleanup hitter) is 7 for 13 (.538) with two homers and eight RBI , while Julia (no. 3 hitter) is 11 for 21 (.524) with one homer and nine RBI.
With four games still remaining in August, the Bulldogs need only three wins to not only equal last year’s win total, but to equal the win total in any season played by the current senior class.

Decatur Varsity Softball Whips Druid Hills and Norcross, Improves to 6-1 One of the most beloved early-period Joni Mitchell songs opens with this stanza: “Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I saw/ Was the sun through yellow curtains, and a rainbow on the wall” For Decatur softball fans just now waking up to discover senior shortstop Chelsea Hall – she sat out all last varsity season due to arcane eligibility issues – those rainbows are authoritative drives to the gaps in left- and right-centerfield.

Chelsea debuted last week with declarative, if not poetic statements against Westminster (2 for 2 with two walks), and particularly against Druid Hills (a 6-2 win on Wednesday) and much-improved Norcross (an 8-1 win Saturday afternoon – both games were at Oakhurst Park). On Wednesday she drove in a run with a smash triple to left-center, and followed that with a parabolic two-run homer, also to left-center, her first for Decatur. On Saturday she added two more hits, an infield single and another soaring triple to drive in yet another run. In an email earlier this week assistant coach Gary Anderson asked: “Why wouldn’t you want to pen every superlative you could about this gifted player? “The only problem here, we’ll likely have trouble finding enough of them. Chelsea played for Decatur as a sophomore in 2010 and earned second team all-region honors, but was eligible to play only junior varsity last year. Clearly, after a successful summer for the 18U Georgia Elite (playing alongside former Decatur standout Summer Fowler), she’s improved in nearly every facet, particularly hitting. In her first three games this year she’s gone 6 for 9 with two walks and four RBI.

But her real forte, providing “sun through yellow curtains,” along with plenty of visceral excitement, may be defense. She is not only impeccable with arm and glove, she practically forces everyone on the Decatur infield step up their game. Two examples suffice. In the sixth inning of Saturday’s game, the only inning where right-hander Julia Banks had any problems, Norcross had runners on second and third with two out and a run already home. Chelsea made a leaping catch of a line drive that likely would’ve been a backbreaking two-run triple last season. In the seventh, she and second baseman Summer Sullivan turned in the single most satisfying infield play we’ve seen in six years of covering Decatur softball. With a runner on first, a grounder was ripped to Summer, who gave Chelsea a hard backhanded flip for the out at second, with the shortstop firing a laser to first for the 4-6-3 double play.

Indeed, the defensive improvement has been palpable thus far – only two errors each in the last two games. Although coaches Paul and Anderson would certainly prefer no errors, this is a drastic reduction from the nearly seven errors Decatur averaged per game in 2011. Summer and third baseman Kyle Drenner are far more relaxed and focused at their positions, and it’s hard imagining a center fielder more accomplished than senior Kendall Lewis – finally playing the position she’s wanted to play forever — who’s made one outstanding catch after another in the early going. Kendall didn’t have any chances Saturday, however, as Julia went the distance (7 innings), walking one, striking out 11 and allowing only a measly infield hit and one unearned run. In fact, not a single ball was hit beyond the infield.

Which leads to another thing separating this from the previous 11 Decatur varsity squads, and that’s pitching depth. Against Druid Hills sophomore Anna Marianchuk threw a complete-game (seven innings), four-hit, 6-2 victory, allowing one earned run while striking out eight. Anna may be one of the most improved pitchers in the state: She’s gone the distance in all three of her starts, posting a 1.75 ERA in 16 innings. This doesn’t even count Summer, a sophomore, who threw a complete-game gem in Saturday’s junior varsity contest against Norcross.

The Bulldogs have three games this week, playing at Dunwoody Wednesday (5:30 p.m.), a team Decatur beat 7-5 last Saturday, Blessed Trinity on Thursday (5:55 p.m.), and at South Gwinnett Saturday (noon). The girls don’t return to the friendly confines of Oakhurst Park until Sept. 4 which means, alas, you have an endless 16 days before once again seeing Doc Sullivan do her thing on that ancient International Harvester.

KICKBALL CONTROVERSY Saturday marked the annual Bulldog picnic for all Decatur and Renfroe softball players (and a couple players who are still in elementary school) and their parents. The event was highlighted by the Grand Bulldog Kickfest, the annual kickball game between parents and players. The Players won 10-1, but like Penn State football’s past 14 years, and any of a number of teams that John Calipari’s coached, this result may not stand the test of history. In perusing the official WAKA website (for those of you who’ve spent too much time listening to conservative talk radio, this stands for World Adult Kickball Association) we found several crucial rules violations. First: each team “must field at least eight and no more than 11 players. . .” By our count, at one time or another, the Players team consisted of anywhere from 37 to 43 players! What’s that all about?! We admit, these numbers are great for the future of Decatur softball, but not good for kickball, making it nearly impossible for Parents to get base hits. Second, each team “must field a minimum of four players of each sex.” Yet, by our count, the Players team was all girls (many of them texting on the field of play) – a blatant and arrogant violation! Third, there is some controversy about the birthdate of seven-year-old Michael Ann Lewis (Kendall’s sister), who played for the Players. She has unabashedly claimed to this reporter that her birthday is either May 20 or May 1, 2005, and she has said this with a straight face. However, her birth certificate unequivocally shows March 22 as the official date. Listen, confusing birthdates are fine for, say, jazz trumpeters (Louis Armstrong often claimed different dates), but this is not good for kickball and it certainly isn’t endorsed by WAKA. We see no ther recourse but to declare the result vacated and the Parents as official victor! The current Decatur High team lines up before last week’s home opener against Druid Hills. On Homecoming night, October 26, some 60 former softball players will be introduced on the field at halftime of the Decatur-Towers game as part of this season’s Softball Celebration 10 years plus.

Graduation counselor Iris Gibbons throws out the first pitch of the 2012 home opener against Druid Hills. In 2001 Gibbons and current assistant Gary Anderson started the Decatur High fast-pitch program with a junior varsity team, then began varsity play one year later. She’s throwing here to junior catcher Harper Reed, while looking on are seniors (l-r) Sharlie Goodson, Chelsea Hall, Kendall Lewis and Julia Banks.

August 14, 2012
Decatur Softball: Bulldogs fall to Westminster for first loss
Rematch against Druid Hills 8/16 at Oakhurst Park
by Bill Banks

It’s been a blue moon and a few other moons to boot since Decatur’s beaten always-tough Westminster in softball, making Tuesday’s 6-2 loss particularly frustrating. The dark side was revealed in the very first inning, in this the first road game for this very young squad (only three seniors), which proved Decatur’s undoing. Two errors led to an ugly four unearned runs and Decatur couldn’t recover from that sloppy start. The good news, after those first-inning jitters, the team settled down and played a nearly- flawless game No more errors were committed, and we must specifically cite the glove work of third baseman Kyle Drenner and second baseman Summer Sullivan who had five assists and a putout between them. If Decatur’s defensive performance from here on mirrors those last five innings, this team will win a lot games. Consider that this seasoned Westminster squad made no errors the entire game. For Decatur, that would be a good blueprint to follow from here on. Decatur right-hander Julia Banks allowed only three hits the final five frames, and five hits total for the afternoon, striking out six, walking three and allowing only two earned runs. Tuesday marked the debut of sizzling senior shortstop Chelsea Hall, a huge addition to both the lineup and the infield defense. Batting cleanup, Chelsea went 2 for 2 at the plate, with two singles and two walks. Decatur had only two other hits: sophomore Anna Marienchuck had a sixth-inning single and Julia a third-inning single. Westminster right-hander Michelle Bonnot, a longtime Decatur nemesis, went the distance (seven innings) walking seven and striking out 11. In a particularly galling note, the Bulldogs could score only two runs despite 11 base runners while stranding eight of those. In the third inning Decatur had runners on first and third with no outs and couldn’t manage a single tally. Westminster is now 2-2 as Decatur falls to 4-1. The Bulldogs play Druid Hills Thursday in a 5:30 rematch at Oakhurst Park. Decatur beat Druid Hills Saturday 13-1 in the season-opening Bulldog Bash tournament. Prior to today’s game, the first pitch will be thrown out by Iris Gibbons, Decatur’s first-ever varsity head coach. This year marks the 12th year of varsity softball at Decatur, and the 13th season overall. Assistant coach Gary Anderson has been a part of all 13 of those seasons.

NOTE: The RMS Gold Softball team holds their season opener at Oakhurst tonight at 5:30 PM so come on out and cheer RMS and the Varsity softball team to victory!!

If you are a JV parent or a RMS parent of either a GOLD, BLUE or WHITE team player and would like to volunteer to do a small write up for the games this season, please contact your coach or Rick Brozek at rickbrozek@comcast.net. Thanks.

August 10-11, 2012

Bulldogs Softball Open Season With Four Wins

by Bill Banks Sophomores Anna Marianchuk and Claudia Tansey delivered crucial base hits Saturday in Decatur’s come-from-behind 7-5 victory over Dunwoody in the championship game of the 2012 Bulldog Bash. Decatur won all four games in the season-opening Bash, edging North Springs 4-3 Friday night, along with Saturday wins over Westlake (7-4), Druid Hills (13-1) and Dunwoody.The final game was by far the most thrilling, with Decatur trailing 2-0 after three and managing only a scratch single off Dunwoody senior right-hander Anna Hadarits. But with one out in the fourth, Harper Reed was hit by a pitch and Julia Banks blooped a double to right putting runners at second and third. This set up Marianchuk’s dramatic two-run single up the middle to tie matters at two. After a walk to Rachel Reed, Tansey looped a single over short to put the Bulldogs ahead to stay 3-2. Totaled, Decatur plated seven runs in that fateful fourth. It was by no means a polished performance for this young team (only three seniors), which committed five errors, including three consecutive miscues on relatively routine plays to open the fifth inning. But that defense figures to tighten up big time with the return of flashy senior shortstop Chelsea Hall, who was finishing up her summer season in Minneapolis this weekend. Hall will be in the lineup Tuesday in Decatur’s 5:30 road opener at arch-rival Westminster (17-11 record last year, including a 5-0 win over Decatur). The most pleasant surprise was the team’s hitting, going 26 for 80 (.325 average) over the four games. Freshman Taylor Bryan went 5 for 7 with two doubles and four RBI. Senior Julia Banks went 5 for 7 with two doubles and five RBI (all against Druid Hills), sophomore Summer Sullivan went 3 for 10 with two RBI, Marianchuk went 3 for 10 and sophomore Rachel Reed 2 for 6. Coaches Allison Paul and Gary Anderson have the rare luxury of three starting pitchers this season. Anna started two games over the weekend, pitching nine innings, allowing only three earned runs on five hits while striking out 12. The two-day, eight-team Bulldog Bash – where every team was guaranteed four games (excepting North Atlanta and Tucker, who both vanished after playing only three games) – was an unequivocal success. Concession revenues surpassed a thousand bucks, and though we don’t have exact numbers, hundreds showed up and packed the bleachers of both diamonds during the two days. Thankfully, the weather cooperated and there were no rain delays. Folks if you haven’t been to the friendly confines of Oakhurst Park, you are missing a superb tree-shaded, air-cooled softball facility and the between-games entertainment of Doc Cinnamon Sullivan dragging the field on a tractor that looks as if it came straight out of “The Real McCoys.” The reader may recall “The Real McCoys” as a television show from the 1950s where Walter Brennan was always limping around and saying, “Dag nabbit!” The two major celebrity sightings at Oakhurst last weekend included Westlake coach Jerome Walton who was a 1989 National League Rookie of the year with the Chicago Cubs, and also a crucial member of the Central Division-winning Cincinnati Reds in 1995. Walton played 10 years with six teams including the 1996 Braves. The second celebrity sighting was “Better Deal” Bud King of Tucker, one of the true characters in high school sports, and it’s considered a high honor indeed if Bud shows up to your game. In fact, at one point Bud was seen talking to Walton with much animation, a conversation we would’ve paid big bucks to drop in on. Like Yogi Berra, Bud has had many quotes attributed to him, both real and rhetorical. One our favorites came a few years ago when, during a discussion of high school officiating, he said, “I don’t hardly cuss anymore, and I certainly wouldn’t cuss a referee. A lot of them are my friends. However, I keep a close eye on them. If I have too, I will call them clueless.” This is an unusually busy week for Decatur softball, beginning with Tuesday’s game at Westminster. Thursday the girls have their official home opener at Oakhurst Park with a 5:30 rematch against Druid Hills. The Bulldogs have a doubleheader Saturday, playing Norcross at 10:00am and Laney-Augusta at 2:00pm. This year marks the 12th year of varsity softball at Decatur, and the 13th season overall. Gary Anderson has been the associate head coach from the beginning, but prior to Thursday’s game the school’s first-ever head coach, Iris Gibbons, will throw out the first pitch. Also, this season the Bulldogs move up to AAA, meaning they’re no longer in the same region as recruiting-crazed Greater Atlanta Christian and Buford. For this we say good riddance to both. In fact the only holdover from the old Region 6-AA is Blessed Trinity, which went 28-16 last year and beat Decatur 7-0 in the regional tourney, though it has lost five key seniors from that team. The other schools in Region 6-AAA are McNair (1-6 in softball last year), St. Pius X (20-13 last year and this year’s regional favorite), Towers (1-11), Woodward Academy (18-9) and Cedar Grove (3-7).

This year’s Decatur Varsity Roster