Braden River softball blanked in state semifinal

VERO BEACH -- Scoring runs had not been a problem all season for Braden River High School, which came into Friday's Class 7A state semifinal averaging more than 10 a game.

Then they faced Gainesville's Katie Chronister, who in some circles is considered the best softball pitcher in the state. Braden River found her reputation might be as imposing as her pitch repertoire.

The University of Florida-bound lefty handcuffed the Pirates, limiting them to three hits while striking out nine, to lead Gainesville to a 4-0 victory at Historic Dodgertown. She threw 98 pitches, including 68 for strikes and struck out four Braden River batters twice.

The one person who had success for Braden River (23-3), which shortstop Linda Ross, who went 2 for 2 and ended her career by getting eight hits in her last eight at bats.

"She is a good pitcher, but I think she got in our heads more than anything," Ross said. "Before the game, we knew she was going to Florida and we really had that in the back of our minds when we went up to bat. She hits her spots well."

Braden River knew it had to play nearly perfectly to stay with Chronister, who came into the game with a 26-2 record (same as the team) and had struck out 255 in 172.1 innings with a 0.57 ERA. It was her 11th shutout of the season.

Scoring runs and playing good defense, two things the Pirates did well this season, eluded them on this day.

Cronister staked herself a 1-0 lead in the first with an

RBI double. Gainesville scored three runs in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead. Maggie Willis singled, advanced to second on a walk and scored on an error. A wild pitch and subsequent throwing error to third allowed two more runs to score.

"In the first two innings, we didn't catch or throw the ball the way we are capable of doing," Braden River head coach Melissa Dowling said. "We also didn't put the ball in play when it counted and didn't make the play when we needed to make the play. With them scoring as quickly as they did, we knew we had maybe one or two opportunities score on her and couldn't take advantage of several opportunities we had."

The Pirates put two runners on in the first, but couldn't bring anyone home. Ross got on base twice, but they couldn't move her around. The other runners for Braden River were Sarah Crawford, who singled, and Bethaney Keen, who walked.

Keen, the Pirates starting first baseman who signed with USF, was hoping for a better ending to her career after finally reaching the state final as a senior.

"She is definitely one of the better pitchers we faced. She made the pitches she needed to make and hats off to her," said Keen said. "It wasn't her being a lefty that bothered me. She hits her spots well and has a really good demeanor on the mound. She really wants it. It's disappointing to end the season this way, but we made it here and that is more than most can say so that is good

Yawn went six innings for Braden River. The junior right-hander allowed three hits, walked three and struck out three. Three of the four runs she allowed were unearned.

"Ali pitched really well. She settled down after that second inning and they didn't hit anything hard off of her," Dowling said. "For us, when you are hitting against a tough pitcher like that it is all mental. She got to us early. We hit the ball well at times; it just wasn't our day. For me, I am grateful that I was given a chance to coach this team and thankful we were able to make it this far in my first year as head coach."

Alan Dell, Herald sports columnist/writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter @ADellSports

This story was originally published May 6, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Braden River softball blanked in state semifinal ."