tosses perfect game in win over Lady Hounds

By

ADAM DAIGLE

FERRIDAY, La. &045; For as long as she can remember, Lindsey Cheek has wanted to be a pitcher.

As she got older, she began to idolize two of the best in the business of fast-pitch softball &045; Jennie Finch and Cat Osterman &045; and tried to bring it just as hard and with just as much control on all her pitches.

On Monday, she resembled both of them.

The Prairie View Academy senior tossed a perfect game in a 3-0 win over Huntington as she retired all 21 batters she faced in the seven-inning contest. The Lady Hounds fanned eight times against Cheek, who got some help from her defense to turn in her first no-hitter this season.

&uot;I’ve been working really hard throughout the season,&uot; said Cheek, who was on the losing end of last year’s contest at Huntington against ex-Hound Erin Hedrick. &uot;I could never pitch a no-hitter without my defense. I’ve never had a strong defense behind me. Never. This year it’s been awesome. I’m just pleased with how they’re playing and everything.&uot;

You can’t help but be all smiles when you walk off the field after throwing BBs past the opposition. The Lady Hounds had seen Cheek twice earlier this season and had success against her, but on Monday that wasn’t the case.

Only one ball left the outfield &045; Jessie Lee’s flyout to center to start the eighth. Only once did Cheek go three balls deep into the count, and Sarah Loomis ran the count full before grounding out in the fourth inning.

&uot;We played them twice, and she pitched both times,&uot; Huntington head coach Rut Horne said. &uot;We had them beat 6-3 in Monroe, and that was one of those games where we had six errors in one inning and they came back and beat us 7-6. Tonight was a different night. She threw hard throughout, threw strikes, and we couldn’t hit anything.&uot;

Cheek did it with an array of pitches, but she mainly hit the corners and changed speeds a bit. The Lady Hounds had most of their struggles in the first three innings when Cheek fanned five of the first nine batters, but they made better contact the second time around.

Unfortunately, none of the hits fell in. The Lady Spartans’ infield &045; comprised of mostly eighth-graders &045; field bunts cleanly for outs.

&uot;She was moving inside and outside, and she was changing her speeds up,&uot; PVA head coach Steve Walker said. &uot;She didn’t get behind in any count. She’s been on (lately), but tonight she was exceptional. You won’t find that very often against a team like Huntington. They’re one of the best teams around here, and if you beat them here like that, you’ve done a terrific job.&uot;

Things started off bad and never got better for the Lady Hounds, who had a solid effort on the mound from Lee. The Lady Spartans got a two-run inside-the-park home run from Kara Burchfield in the second inning, and it was enough room for Cheek to work and close the game out.

It was tough for the Lady Hounds, who put together one of their better defensive games in a while.

&uot;We swung at a lot of high pitches,&uot; Horne said. &uot;But she threw hard. For the most part we were making our minds up too quick and chasing bad pitches. When you chase bad pitches, you get behind in the count.&uot;

The Lady Spartans pecked away for 10 hits off Lee, but they finished the game with eight runners left on base. Burchfield drove one into left center that got past Loomis to score Mallory Hall from second, and she got to third before beating the throw from third to the plate to score.

Emily Jones tripled with two outs in the third but couldn’t come across. In the fifth the Lady Spartans had consecutive singles from Caroline Oliphant and Jones before Lee got Cheek to fly out to right to end the inning.

&uot;That was an eighth-grader,&uot; Walker said of Burchfield. &uot;(Lee) does a great job. We only scored three runs, and that’s not bad. She did a terrific job, and she always throws a good game.&uot;

The Lady Spartans added another in the seventh when Cheek singled in Oliphant with two outs. The Lady Hounds committed just two errors, and neither factored into the Lady Spartans’ runs.

Credit Lee for hanging tough. The senior didn’t walk any, had three balls on only two batters and got outs when she needed them.

&uot;Defensively, we did a better job than we’ve been doing,&uot; Horne said. &uot;That was an improvement. Jessie had one or two full counts, and she came back with strikes and got them to hit her. But take nothing away from Prairie View. They’ve got nine girls who can hit the ball.&uot;