Abby Purtlebaugh knows there are only a few ways she can help her softball team win games this season.
So every opportunity the junior gets is a chance she can’t and won’t waste. Her first one came when Bloomington South coach Meg Montgomery sent her to the plate as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the seventh, one out and the winning run at second base.
She fouled off five of the first eight pitches. The ninth she lined to center, bringing home Sloane Barrett with the winning run in a 5-4 victory over Owen Valley in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday at South.
“It’s been really hard not being able to help my team at all,” Purtlebaugh said. “But that felt like a lot. I didn’t feel pressure like most people on other teams would because they’ve been so supportive throughout this entire thing.
“So getting the hit for them is great.”
The problem started last season. Purtlebaugh said the nerves and vessels in her arm get pinched, making her arm go numb. The fix has been elusive, and surgery is planned in the future. It took away her wrestling season and put limits on what she can do in softball.
“It’s definitely been really hard,” Purtlebaugh said. “My team has been really great support. They’ve encouraged me whenever I wanted to quit on myself.”
She can’t play the field, but she can swing a bat. So that is how she can save the day for the Panthers.
“Abby’s a gamer,” Montgomery said. “I’ve always known that she wants to be out there on the field. Right now, she is battling an injury there, but she has found what she can do to help us. She doesn’t focus on what she can’t do right now.
“And for her to step up in the seventh inning with a situation like that and deliver, that’s huge. But that’s the type of kid Abby’s been. Excited to see that for her.”
Montgomery was also proud of how her team set up the game-winner. Barrett worked the leadoff walk, then Larkyn Ivey, one of her best hitters, selflessly laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to put the runner in scoring position.
“We call it the trifecta,” Montgomery said. “That’s two seniors and a junior stepping up, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Purtlebaugh fell behind 0-2 and refused to give in.
“We said if we get behind, we’re going to walk her. If we get up, we’re going to try to get her out,” OV coach Brian Greene said. “Then we said, it’s the first game of the season, and Haley’s throwing well, and that’s a good hitter. So, to heck with it, let’s roll the dice. And we lost.”
Purtlebaugh got the pitch she was looking for.
“I was ready for that changeup,” she said.
South finishes strong
Not much went right in a messy top of the fourth for South when Owen Valley scored three unearned runs to go up 4-3.
But from there, South’s perseverance was key to rallying for the win.
“We have some things to clean up, but we didn’t let it truly affect us,” Montgomery said. ” We figured out a way to bounce back. It was good to see that.”
It started in the bottom half of the fourth with the same critical two-out hitting that produced Carly Reed’s two-run double in the second.
Catcher Lindsey Blanton at the No. 9 spot hardly fits the slow-moving stereotype for that position, racing to beat out an infield single with one down. A wild pitch sent her to second, and with two outs, Sloane Barrett’s single sent Blanton home to tie it 4-4.
From there, sophomore pitcher Rachel Johnson shook off the bad luck and sent the Patriots down in order the rest of the way as her off-speed offerings helped her pile up eight strikeouts.
“She got the ground balls today, she got the fly balls today,” Montgomery said. “Defensively, we didn’t help her out. The last three innings, I think she threw harder. Changeup was phenomenal.
“Really happy with her and Blanton behind the plate.”
Montgomery was also pleased with how her rebuilt outfield tracked down a half dozen balls.
“That is an entirely new outfield, and they all did their jobs,” she said. “Owen Valley hit the ball hard.”
Solid start for Owen Valley
Opening the season against a 4A foe, OV started off well, getting a two-out RBI double from Addy Applegate in the first inning.
But the Patriots had just three hits, with Abree Wells going 2-for-3, and had their own defensive issues that led to three South runs in the second.
“We wanted to compete really hard, and I thought we did,” Greene said. “We gave ourselves a chance to win the game. That was the big thing.
“I thought their pitcher did a nice job and I thought we adjusted and got better as the game went on against her. She started mixing in her change last that made her tougher.”
OV pitcher Haley Amador battled well all game, striking out five, but that leadoff walk in the seventh was a killer.
“We did some good stuff, but obviously, we want to get a little cleaner on defense. We made some mistakes there that we feel are uncharacteristic for us. We’ll work on it.”
BLOOMINGTON SOUTH 5, OWEN VALLEY 4
Owen Valley (0-1) 100 | 300 | 0 — 4 | 3 | 4
Bloomington South (1-0) 030 | 100 | 1 — 5 | 8 | 3
Haley Amador and Addy Applegate. Rachel Johnson and Lindsey Blanton. W: Johnson. L: Amador. 2B: Applegate (OV); Carly Reed (S). 3B: Aminah Saahir (S).
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Purtlebaugh comes through in a pinch as South softball tops Owen Valley
Reporting by Jim Gordillo, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
