By Richard Torres
Fri, May 16 2008
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PENDLETON — Customarily, sophomore pitchers require a period of adjustment before realizing their talent.
True for some, but not Hamilton Southeastern ace Taylor Rager.
Friday night, the left-hander scattered two hits for a complete game victory as the Class 4A No. 4 Hamilton Southeastern Royals blanked the Class 4A No. 9 Pendleton Heights Arabians 4-0 at Legends Field.
Rager struck out six batters and retired 11 straight between hits, coaxing the normally patient Arabians’ hitters into less-than-favorable counts.
“That’s her style,” Hamilton Southeastern coach David Cook said, referring to his pitcher’s ability to stymie the opposition with her off-speed pitches. “She’s left-handed, has a great changeup, and she works the whole plate.”
“She gained some confidence last year, and she’s hoped right in there and taken off. That’s a powerful offense she just shutdown. She’s good. That change-up fooled some awfully good hitters.”
Earning her eighth victory this season — versus one loss to top-ranked Avon — Rager allowed a second-inning base hit to Halee Myers and a leadoff single to Casey Jamerson in the bottom of the sixth.
The Arabians threatened with two runners on base in the second and another pair in the sixth, but Rager used a strikeout and a flyout to escape the first imperilment and a groundout and a punchout for the second.
“She did a great job. I’m not going to take anything away from her. She went out and beat us,” Pendleton Heights coach Scott Hall said after his team fell to 14-4 this year. “We weren’t focused. We weren’t ready, and you can’t face the defending state champs that way. That’s what’s going to happen. We get out-hit, out-played, out-pitched and out-coached.
“Not a whole lot of focus out there tonight.”
Two fielding errors in the top of the fourth helped the Royals (13-1) secure a 3-0 lead and their 11th consecutive win.
After a one-out RBI-double by Ashley Nelson chased starter Lainie Dishroon, a Jenna Abraham single plated the second run. A misplayed ball in the outfield the next at-bat scored Abraham with Lindsey Beisser on the mound in relief.
The Arabians fourth and final error put the Royals’ leadoff hitter on board in the top of the seventh, which led to a 4-0 lead behind Devin Dearing’s two-out RBI-single.
“We played distracted, and that’s what’s going to happen,” Hall said. “We have to get it turned around somehow.”
The Arabians have won three of their last four games, with the last victory spanning 14 innings against Noblesville on Thursday.
Friday’s loss marks the most the program has surrendered since 2004 when the team finished 21-8. The current senior class owns a record of 103-9, which marks the third time in program history a group has exceed 100 wins.
“There’s no excuses. We just have to get out of this funk right now,” Hall said. “It’s our philosophy that we’re not going to hit (changeups). Tonight, we were, and that’s the problem. We were going after them. We need to find a way to get better.”
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