LaGrange — There was a lot of chatter coming out of
Black River early this spring that the Pirates were ready to dethrone Keystone
as the class of the Patriot Athletic Conference. Much of that confidence
centered on outstanding sophomore pitcher Dagmar Smith.
In front of a large crowd Monday at LaGrange Community Park, Smith was very good
but Keystone junior pitcher Kenzie Conrad was better and once again the Keystone
offense solved Smith for 3-0 victory.
In her previous 13 starts, Smith had been virtually unhittable as she threw 13
shutouts with a nice collection of perfect games and no-hitters. Her one blemish
was a 13-spot Keystone dropped on her earlier this season.
Black River arrived for the rematch with a record 13-1 while Keystone was 20-1.
“We wanted to prove we are still a pretty good team and we are not ready to give
up our conference,” Keystone head coach Jim Piazza said.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth.
Keystone junior Alisha Silva worked the count in her favor and then smacked a
single up the middle with one out. Junior Alyson Broschk placed down a beautiful
bunt and beat the throw to first, while Silva raced to third. Smith struck out
the next batter for the second out, but Broschk moved up to second base.
Up strode All-Ohio shortstop Erin Pond. First base was open but Black River
coach Merle Simmons elected to have Smith pitch to Pond. With the count 2-2 Pond
drove the ball through the hole for a 2-0 Keystone lead.
“That was one of the top players in the state of Ohio up in a crucial
situation,” Piazza said. “It is me or you and she stepped up and said it was
me.”
Pond singled in her first at-bat but struck out in her second. She was
determined to come through with the game on the line.
“I realized I couldn’t let the failure of my last at bat affect the success of
my next,” Pond said. “I was lucky enough to be one put in that situation so I
knew I had to be tough and come through.”
Keystone senior Alexis Sanislow tacked on another run as she doubled home Pond
to make it 3-0.
“I knew she was throwing a lot of rise balls so my focus was staying on top of
the ball,” Sanislow said.
Last week Conrad threw a perfect game and a no-hitter. She was just inches from
another perfect game against Black River. In the first inning, Kayla Finkel
reached when Conrad aggressively stuck out her glove trying to make a play off
the mound and in the fourth, Nora Smith hit a liner that glanced off Pond’s
glove at shortstop. Neither advanced and Black River never threatened to score.
“I think we have a pretty good pitching staff too in Kenzie and Bee Shaw,”
Piazza said. “Kenzie has been throwing well. Her hard work is paying off.”
Conrad struck out seven and walked one. She is now 12-1.
“Kenzie always comes through when we need her to,” Sanislow said. “Her change
was working really well today. She is a great pitcher.”
Smith finished with nine strikeouts but her record falls to 13-2. Keystone is
now 21-1 and undefeated in the PAC Stars division with a two-game lead over
Black River.