Currie Pitches No-Hitter

Grapeland Crushes Kennard, 10-0

By Will Johnson
Messenger Sports

GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandiettes were coming off of a big 9-4 win on Saturday over the Slocum Lady Mustangs. The victory gave them the District 21-AA softball championship, with two games remaining in league play before the postseason begins.

They were prime for a let-down against the Kennard Lady Tigers on Tuesday, April 17, but Grapeland’s ace pitcher – Cadie Belle Currie – would have none of it as she no-hit the Lady Tigers in five innings.

Currie was so dominant, she only allowed two baserunners the entire game – one on a hit batter and the other on infield error. Neither one of the Kennard baserunners made it to second.

As the game got underway, Currie struck out the first two batters she faced – Ashley Roy and Maddi Morrow. The third batter of the inning was D. Ping and Currie retired her on a one pitch pop up to center.

When the Sandiettes came in to bat, they wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Cierra Simon led off for Grapeland and ripped a double down the first base line.

After Kiera DeCluette took Roy’s first pitch for a ball, Simon took third on a passed ball. DeCluette drew a walk, and with no outs, Grapeland had runners on the corners.

DeCluette stole second with Cheney Boyd at the plate and when Boyd popped up to shallow left, Simon tagged up and scored while DeCluette tagged and moved to third.

Hannah Chipman followed with a single to center to drive in DeCluette and made the score 2-0. Chipman proceeded to steal second and third, followed up by a Roy walk to Currie. Christy Shepherd came in as a courtesy runner for Currie and shortly afterwards, Shepherd stole second.

Madi McCombs was up next and laid down a bunt that held Chipman at third but allowed McCombs to reach first base safely.

Following a KeKe Harris strikeout, Haylee Reed slapped a shot to third that was mishandled. Chipman was able to scamper home on the play and all the runners were called safe.

Roy finally managed to get out of the inning after she caught Teira Jones swinging at strike three.

That brought Currie back to the circle where she continued her mastery over the Lady Tigers batting order. She forced Tori Cole to foul out and then caught Azja Scott swinging at strike three.

The next batter was Casey Scott and on a 1-2 pitch, Currie hit Scott with a pitch. Scott went to first but that was as far as she got as Currie got Kailen Martin to ground into a 5-3 force to end the top of the second.

The Sandiettes tacked on four more runs in their half of the inning. Simon led off with a triple while DeCluette walked and then stole second. A wild pitch allowed Simon to trot home and moved DeCluette to third.

Boyd was at the plate when Simon scored and DeCluette advanced. She was caught swinging at strike three, but on the play, the ball was dropped. Boyd beat an errant throw to first as the ball sailed into the outfield allowing DeCluette to score from third while Boyd motored around the bases to take her place on the third base bag.

Following a Chipman groundout, Boyd crossed the dish after a passed ball. Currie followed with a single into right. Shepherd came into run once again and moved to third on back-to-back passed balls. McCombs was up next, drew a walk and then swiped second.

Harris was the next up and grounded out to first, but on the play, Shepherd was able to score while McCombs advanced to third.

Following a Reed fly out, Currie went back to the circle where she continued to befuddle the Kennard batters. She caught Lily Hanson looking at strike three, got a groundout from Allison Teasdale and then struck out Roy on three pitches.

After a quiet bottom of the third and top of the fourth, the Sandiettes scored two more runs on a Harris double which drove in Chipman and Shepherd. Following the two-run double, it seemed as if Roy was able to shake it off as she struck out Cayden LeBlanc and Macy Cutler to send the game to the fifth inning.

In the fifth, Kennard managed to get their second baserunner of the game. Scott slapped a Currie pitch back up the middle and the ball was mishandled allowing Scott to reach first.

It was to no avail, however, as Currie got Tims and Martin to strike out and then forced a Hanson pop-up to short.

When the game moved to the bottom of the inning, the Sandiettes top of the lineup scored the game’s final run. Simon led off with a double and took third on the throw. DeCluette followed with a bunt single and when Boyd followed with a ball that was mishandled in the outfield, Simon crossed the plate to make the score 10-0, as the run-rule was invoked and the game was called.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].