UNION – Rookie Daniel Boone softball coach Traci Huddleson said that sophomore Bekah Slattery ‘epitomizes’ the Blazers program.
‘Her heart and her hustle speak for themselves,’ Huddleson said.
Monday afternoon, Slattery’s left arm and bat also did plenty of talking as the Blazers defeated Wilson 3-1 on their Senior Day to clinch the Berks Conference Division One title.
Slattery struck out 11 on a three-hitter and didn’t allow an earned run while also going 4-for-4 with two doubles and one run out of the leadoff hole for Boone (9-1 Berks One, 15-5 overall), which avenged a 4-2 loss to the Bulldogs (7-3, 11-5) last month.
‘I think we pulled together more as a team,’ Slattery said. ‘We were focused and determined to win this game no matter what.’
Savannah Toth went 3-for-3 with one RBI and Mikaela Ballmer was 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI for Boone, which scored all three of its runs in the first inning.
Slattery led off by slicing a drive to left for a double, took third on Heather Toth’s sacrifice and scored on Nicole Kovach’s double to center.
Ballmer followed by ripping an RBI single up the middle, then scored on Savannah Toth’s long single that reached the fence in right.
‘I think as a whole, we were ready to attack them early,’ Savannah Toth said.
Slattery was in a similar mode on the mound. She recorded her first six outs via the strikeout and had racked up all 11 of them through five innings.
‘I wanted to make sure it was the best day for our seniors,’ she said.
Slattery – who also singled in the second, singled and stole a base in the fourth and doubled in the sixth – has ensured a lot of good days for the Blazers thus far this spring.
‘She’s a total team player,’ Huddleson said. ‘As powerful as she is on the mound for us, she’s just as important in the dugout, in the team room and on the bus. She’s there for her teammates in every way, shape or form – doing whatever she can to help the team.’
Wilson, which was no-hit by Slattery until Brittany Smith’s one-out single in the fourth, scratched across an unearned run in the fifth on a two-out error.
Then in the sixth, the Bulldogs got a runner to second with two outs before Slattery escaped when Haley Crooch’s grounder hit the runner for the third out.
Slatttery, who walked one, then worked a 1-2-3 seventh to close it out.
‘I have a great team behind me,’ Slattery said. ‘I think we’re playing more together as a team and understanding each other better.’
Slattery, Savannah Toth, Ballmer and Kovach combined for 10 hits against Wilson’s Jaye-Lynn Reed, who had scattered seven hits in the first encounter.
‘Wilson is solid all the way through the lineup,’ Huddleson said. ‘They’ve got great kids, and they’re a well-coached team. They got us the last time, so our girls wanted to come back and show they didn’t play their best that day.’
Next up for the Blazers are the Berks quarterfinals, pairings for which will likely be finalized today.
‘I think we’re ready,’ Slattery said. ‘We’ve prepared all season for it, now we want to go out and do our best.’
Follow Darryl Grumling on Twitter at @MercSmokinD.
