It was quite a day for freshman Arundel catcher Breanna Kitchen yesterday.
She not only drove in the winning run with a one-out bases-loaded single in the last of the eighth inning to turn back second-ranked Chesapeake, 4-3, but she predicted the third-ranked Wildcats would win when she walked to her position to start the top of the eighth inning.
“Breanna tapped me on the shoulder and said we were going to win,” said Arundel coach Paul Yannuzzi. “Usually the players don’t get too close to me during a game, but Breanna is different from most players. She is laid-back and if you told her the world was going to end tomorrow, she would probably say something like ‘Well what are we doing tomorrow?’ “
That attitude seems to be helping the freshman produce a lot of big hits this season, and few were bigger than the one off Chesapeake right-hander Missy Silvers.
Kitchen, a right-handed hitter, lined a 1-and-1 pitch to right field to score Ruth Wilson.
The game-winning hit came right after her sister, winning pitcher Kara, had fouled out to the first baseman.
And it put to rest some of the superstition among the Kitchen family that cleanup hitter Kara and fifth-place hitter Breanna “usually do the same thing at the plate.”
“It seems like if Kara singles to center, I single to center,” said Breanna. “I was glad it was different this time. This is a very important win for us. It feels great.”
Arundel (13-2 overall, 10-1 North Division) now moves closer to the division title with at least a two-game lead with five games to play. The Wildcats can virtually wrap up the North title with a win at fourth-ranked Glen Burnie tomorrow at 3: 45.
For Chesapeake (9-3 North Division), it was the second loss in two days after a 9-1 start.
The Cougars have fallen out of first place and are in a battle for the division championship with Glen Burnie and Northeast.
“As a coach, you have to expect to lose these kind of games,” said Chesapeake coach Dennis Thiele. “It was a super game between two exceptional teams and the way the game should be played.”
Kara Kitchen (9-2) went the distance, allowing four hits, striking out two and walking two.
She outdueled Chesapeake’s Nikki Carpenter and Silvers, who combined to pitch an eight-hitter (six strikeouts, no walks).
Spalding 13, Mercy 0: Right-hander Crystal Ray (8-1) pitched a five-inning no-hitter, striking out 11, for host Spalding. Ray also homered
Pub Date: 4/25/96
