Addison Mass Shuts Down Saginaw Valley as Golden Eagles Roll 4-0
Addison Mass Dominates Saginaw Valley State in Florida
It seemed to be the day for pitchers at the Space Coast Spring Games, as the Charleston Golden Eagles (West Virginia) took on the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals (Michigan).
The Golden Eagles used dominant pitching with timely defense and capitalized when needed offensively to defeat the Cardinals, 4-0.
On a breezy day that blew left to right, the ball didn’t get much of a chance to carry anywhere. Addison Mass took the ball for Charleston and did a great job of hitting her spots and keeping Saginaw Valley guessing. However, the Cardinals would have their opportunities but could never cash any in.
In the bottom of the third, Natalie Savage came through with a two-out triple, but Mass escaped as Aalana Kimble grounded out and couldn’t help herself.
For Aalana Kimble and Saginaw Valley, errors lit a fire for scoring opportunities that Charleston took advantage of. In the top of the third, Maya Hathaway grounded back to Kimble, but a high throw to first allowed Hathaway to reach.
She moved to third on an Ella Zucchero single and was brought in on an RBI-ground out from Bianca Polistina to give Charleston a 1-0 lead.
From there, Addison Mass went back to work for Charleston and struck out two in the bottom half of the third to bring her total to three in the game. Mass would keep working, keeping Saginaw off the board.
Even with Charleston ahead, Saginaw Valley’s Ella Reifschneider reached on a leadoff walk in the bottom of the fourth and made it all the way to third before Mass escaped again with a strikeout to Kenzie Bromley with runners on the corners and two outs.
Mass was untouchable in this game, and one of the biggest stats for her was shutting Saginaw down with runners on, keeping them 0-for-6 in those situations.
The Golden Eagles began to wear the Cardinals down late, and in the top of the seventh they plated three more runs that began with an error that allowed Aubriana Espinoza to reach. Then the wheels began turning, and Maya Hathaway singled to advance Espinoza all the way to third.
Next, Hathaway stole second to get into scoring position, and that was followed by an Emma Smith RBI-single to score Espinoza, making it 2-0. That was the day for Aalana Kimble, as the Cardinals went to Delaney Conley.
Kimble had a solid game overall. It was just a tough day for any kind of run support, and sooner or later the line breaks one way or another.
Hathaway then came in on a wild pitch, and the scoring finished with an RBI-ground out from Ella Zucchero to score Smith and make it 4-0. That is where the score stood at the end, as Mass finished the job by retiring the side and recording her seventh and eighth strikeouts of the day.
Addison Mass was fantastic today. She finished with 7.0 innings pitched, only allowed two hits with four walks, and tossed eight strikeouts. Charleston improved to 9-7 on the season.
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