The number has been something for Tabitha Beard to fear.
Whether it has been wrists, ankles, backs, or a litany of other injuries, Jason Miller has found plenty of reasons to call Beard to update her on the latest malady to happen to a member of the New Hope High School fast-pitch softball team. That’s why Beard is almost to the point where she doesn’t want to take a cell phone call from Miller, a certified athletic trainer who works with Rehab at Work in Columbus.
The injuries that have hit New Hope this season have forced Beard to shuffle players to different positions in hopes of finding the right mix. Through all of the changes, New Hope has remained the youngest it has been in Beard’s tenure as coach at the school.
While injuries might have flustered even a more experienced team, a New Hope team filled with underclassmen, including several eighth-graders, has went about its business and put itself in position to earn a No. 1 seed for the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A State tournament.
On Monday, New Hope took another step toward that goal with a 7-0 victory against Saltillo at Lady Trojan Field. Freshman right-hander Brittni Beard pitched a complete-game one-hitter to help New Hope improve to 9-5. The victory set the stage for a game at 6 p.m. today at Oxford. A victory would give New Hope the top seed in Class 5A, Region 2 and enable it to avoid a spot in the play-in round later this week.
“We didn’t hit well against her the last time we were there, so I was so proud of the way they hit,” Beard said of Saltillo starting pitcher Harley Mullins. “We weren’t solid. Even the few hits we had there, they were dinks. We executed bunts really well, and that was how we scored there. Tonight, to come out and really hit the ball and to hit her out of the game, to me, that was awesome.”
With junior Mackenzie Harvey one of the players who has been injured, Kelsey Gerhart has assumed the role as one of the most experienced players on the team. Only a sophomore, Gerhart has seen most of her action at shortstop. But Beard moved Gerhart to third base for Monday’s game based on the scouting report from the first game against Saltillo, a 4-2 loss. That result meant New Hope had to beat Saltillo by at least three runs to earn the tiebreaker against it for the region title race.
In the first game, Harvey played third base and came up with numerous defensive gems. Beard believed Saltillo would continue to hit the ball to the left side of the infield, so she wanted a steady hand there to solidify the defense. Gerhart played her role perfectly, fielding six ground balls and snaring one line drive without an error. Her finest play came in the top of the sixth inning when she charged home plate to field a bunt by Mollie Yarbrough. Gerhart pounced and scooped and all in one motion and fired to second baseman Anna Kate O’Bryant at first base to record the out.
“It wasn’t really shocking because I have been back and forth (between shortstop and third base), but it was an adjustment,” Gerhart said when she learned she was going to play third base. “I played shortstop in the first game against Saltillo and I got absolutely no balls at all. Mac was getting drilled almost every at-bat. I just had to prepare myself before the game to be ready for that.”
Gerhart said the Lady Trojans haven’t allowed the injuries to give them excuses not to play up to their potential. Unfortunately, New Hope has had to deal with injuries the past few years, so Gerhart said the team has kind of gotten used to them. This year, though, she said it has been encouraging to see younger players, like eighth-graders Destinee Crowson, who has played third base, and Mackenzie Ray, step into the lineup and contribute. Crowson had a single Monday, while Ray also fielded two balls cleanly at shortstop. Crowson was the designated player Monday.
“The little girls have stepped up a lot this year,” said Gerhart, who had a two-run single in the first to open the scoring. “We just give it our all. (Harvey) is one of our best pitchers, and we don’t have her, but the little girls always do their jobs.”
Beard has shouldered a bigger load in the circle without Harvey. A back injury has bothered her this season, while classmate Alex Melton, the team’s leadoff hitter, is playing through a wrist injury that is preventing her from pitching. Still, the Lady Trojans have soldiered on without catcher Megan James, a sophomore, and first baseman Meredith Woolbright, another sophomore. Whenever one player goes down, coach Beard said another has been there to contribute, or someone else has been there to make a fine play. Sophomore center fielder Lanora Abrams fit that bill Monday, as she made a fine running catch in front of the wall in the right-center field gap in the second.
The only hiccup New Hope faced Monday came in the fifth when Karley Williams broke up the no-hitter with a single to left field. A throwing error by Beard following a comebacker put runners on second and third and gave Saltillo an opening, but Beard regrouped and struck out the next batter to end the half inning.
Coach Beard said errors like that might have opened the floodgates earlier in the season, but she said she was proud of the way the Lady Trojans rallied.
Gerhart said the opportunity for so many young players to see this much playing time this early in their careers can only help the program. New Hope started four sophomores, four freshmen, and two eighth-graders on Monday, so the future looks promising. The only thing Beard has to worry about is keeping those players healthy so she doesn’t have to see Miller’s cell phone number on her caller ID.
“Every time he calls I am like, ‘What now?’ ” Beard said. “He is like my least favorite person to ever hear from. He called me one night at 9:30 just to ask about the game the next day and I am like, ‘Uh, uh.’ I said, ‘What do you want? You better not tell me anything bad.’ ”
Beard also had an RBI on a fielder’s choice in the third. Savannah Britt had an RBI in the fourth. Melton added a two-run single to right field later in the half inning that made it 6-0. Kerrington Jones’ sacrifice fly in the sixth accounted for the final margin.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.