Chris Hamm likes his Victory Christian fast-pitch softball team to make things happen.
Whether it is stealing bases or putting balls in play, Hamm knows good things are bound to occur when his team puts pressure on a defense.
But after breaking a cardinal rule by making the final out of an inning at third base early in the first inning of his team’s sub-state game against Tabernacle Christian, Hamm hoped the Lady Eagles weren’t going to stop being aggressive.
And while Victory Christian may not have attempted to steal as many bases, it still put the ball in play and reaped the rewards from that action.
Sarah Smith had an RBI single and Victory Christian scored six runs off errors in a 7-5 victory in Columbus that clinched a berth in the Alabama Christian Educators Association State tournament, which will begin Friday in Calera, Ala. Victory Christian will play Brooklane at 10 a.m. The team will play against at 2 or 4 p.m. that day depending on if it wins or loses.
“We try to be aggressive,” Hamm said. “We’re not going to score a ton of runs because we don’t have the power and the speed top to bottom in the lineup. We’re still a pretty young team.”
McKenzie Conn pitched the first three innings for Victory Christian (9-4). She gave way to Faith Miley in the fourth after the Lady Eagles had taken a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the third on an infield error. Catcher Hannah Jordan hustled home from second base on the play to give Victory Christian a lead it didn’t relinquish.
Miley made certain of that, striking out five. She walked two and allowed two hits in the top of the seventh as Tabernacle Christian tried to rally, but she worked a comebacker to the circle to end the game.
Hamm was confident Miley would shut the door. Last Tuesday, Miley pitched in a 13-6 victory against Tabernacle Christian. Hamm said the game didn’t mean anything in terms of seedings and that he went away from using Conn, who has started the majority of games all season. He said he has followed the pattern of bringing Miley, who throws harder than Conn, into games to keep hitters off balance.
Hamm, who also is the school’s headmaster and football coach, said the construction of a softball field and a batting cage at the school has been a huge asset to the softball program. He credited Dale Latham for orchestrating a lot of the work and keeping the team at home. He said it used to have to practice and to play its games at Propst Park, 15 minutes away in Columbus.
Now in its third season on the field, Hamm said many of his players are entering the program with greater experience. With only two seniors and three juniors on the 21-player roster, Hamm feels the future looks bright for a program that will make its fifth appearance in the ACEAS State tournament.
Victory Christian extended its lead to 5-2 in the fourth. Michaela Williams singled and was erased on a fielder’s choice by Alyka Hamm. Kayla Taylor singled and both runners moved up on stolen bases. They then scored when Miley reached first on an infield throwing error.
Tabernacle Christian got a run back on a wild pitch in the fifth, but Victory Christian tacked on what turned out to be two crucial insurance runs in the sixth. Hamm singled, Taylor walked, and with two outs Rebekah Smith reached on an infield error that gave the Lady Eagles a four-run cushion.
Hamm was especially proud his team limited its strikeouts and put the ball in play. In high school ball, he said, you never know what will happen, so it benefits the Lady Eagles to be aggressive.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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