Suamico – The Ashwaubenon Jaguars (5-1) battled the Bay Port Pirates (1-3) in a Fox River Classic Conference (FRCC) matchup to come out with a 7-1 victory.
The mid‐April sun peeked through the clouds as fans began to pile into Bay Port High School. The visiting Jaguars entered the matchup with a 10‐game win streak on the road and were looking to extend it to 11. Jaguars’ starting pitcher, Berritt Herr, was asked for her thoughts before the game: “Pitch hard, have my defense work, play the game the best I can for my team,” Herr said. She ended the game with eight strikeouts, giving up only 4 hits in her complete game and finishing with an ERA of 0.00.
On the other side of the ball, the Ashwaubenon bats were hot. The scoring began with a pitch on a 3-1 count that was crushed over the center-field fence by senior Kahlee James, giving the Jaguars a 1-0 lead. After another scoreless half-inning from the Pirates, the Jaguars took over. They started the third inning with a walk that put senior Addy Phipps on first base with two outs. A few pitches later, Pirates catcher Bobbi Seichter attempted to back-pick Phipps, who took off for second base and dove safely into scoring position.
On the very next pitch, senior Peyton Crutcher hit a drive to deep right field, just over the head of the Pirates’ right fielder Kaylee Murphy. This easily scored Phipps from second and allowed Crutcher to hustle her way to third base for a two-out RBI triple. The next batter up, Kahlee James, battled to a 2-2 count before hitting a line-drive that barely cleared the left-field fence, giving the Jaguars a 4-0 lead and bringing her home run total to two.
“I walked up to the plate ready to hit it, not expecting anything,” said James when asked about her home run-filled outing, “I was working on my was just making sure I was actually hitting the ball and wasn't too focused on the home runs.”
The rough third inning lit a fire under the Pirates in the fourth, who after giving up two hits and a four pitch walk, finally battled back and retired the side, barely escaping unscathed. The fifth inning was back to the same for the Jags—a walk and a few stolen bases put runners on second and third for senior Jocelyn Worth. Worth put the ball on the ground to execute a sacrifice bunt for the team's fifth run.
The Pirates were also able to scrape together a sacrifice bunt to get their first run in the bottom half of the fifth inning, making the score 5-1 with the Jaguars leading. The game went into the final inning after an exciting but ultimately uneventful sixth. With the sun starting to set and the evening chill moving in, Crutcher led off the seventh inning with a base hit to bring up No. 24 Kahlee James. James took Dudra’s first pitch over the right-field fence, scoring the final two runs of the blowout road victory. James, who went 3-for-4 with three home runs, five RBIs, and a walk, led the Jaguars to their 11th straight road victory.
“I think we could make a deep run into the state tournament,” said Crutcher. “This team has eleven seniors, and if there's ever a time to do it, it's this season,” Crutcher said when asked about her expectations for her final season with the Jaguars.
The Jaguars will continue their run to the postseason and their road-winning streak as they head to West De Pere High School to play the Phantoms on Friday, April 11, at 4:30 p.m.
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