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Sutphin outduels Roy as Bobcats end Falcons season, 3-0
Manufactured runs by Battlefield in the first two innings coupled with a near-perfect performance from senior pitcher Megan Sutphin ended Fauquier’s season and pitcher Nikki Roy’s career as the Bobcats (18-3 overall) won 3-0 at home in Haymarket in the first round of the Cedar Run District tournament.
Kaitlyn Sileo and Bailey Liddle laid down respective sacrifice bunts off Roy in the first and second innings, allowing lead-off runners Kelsey Scott and Jessica Anglin to move to second base. Three batters after Sileo in the first, first baseman Shannon Cleary put Battlefield out 1-0 with an RBI single.
When Scott came up again in the second, she rocked an RBI double that scored Anglin from second base. Scott crossed the plate for the second time following a single from catcher Courtney Liddle, producing the last run of the game.
“All season, the top of the order and the bottom of the order have come through producing runs,” reckoned Battlefield coach Joe Schelzo. “We are flexible enough that we will do whatever we need to do.”
That point was not lost on Roy, who knew what she was in for after having faced Battlefield for the last three seasons.
“They’re good hitters. They have a strong line up all the way through,” she said.
Clutch hitting by Battlefield is not the only reason the team is successful, even though Roy only struck out one Bobcat all game. Every opposing coach in the Cedar Run District has found out at some point this season that Battlefield’s pitching is, in its own right, a force to be reckoned with.
“You’ve got two of the best pitchers in the district on their team,” declared Fauquier coach Mark Ott.
With Black missing a few weeks worth of starts this season following a finger injury, Sutphin has pitched most of Battlefield’s games. She hardly ever shows wear though, and if the Fauquier game was any indicator, she may just be warming up.
“Megan pitched nearly a perfect game,” said Schelzo. “She had one little bloop hit on the slap and we picked that runner off. So she faced 21 batters. Twenty-one up, 21 down. You can’t get any better than that.”
That lone hit came from second baseman Carly MacDougall in the top of the third inning. But it did not take long before Liddle eyed Cleary at first base to let her know a pick-off throw was coming.
From that point on, Fauquier (9-13 overall) struggled to get the ball out of the infield. Sutphin ended up with eight strike outs in her complete-game shutout. She walked no one and the Battlefield defense produced no errors compared to the three put up by Fauquier.
“We just never were able to get the bats going tonight and that’s been the story of our whole season,” said Ott, whose team is losing its starting catcher, pitcher, shortstop and centerfield to graduation next month. “We leave too many runners on base or don’t get enough on.”
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