Vidalia’s Smith drives in winning run
Published 12:02 am Sunday, August 9, 2015
LOWER SUSSEX, Del. — Elizabeth Smith pitched a complete-game three-hitter and drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Vidalia Girls Little League defeated the Prague Little League 1-0 Saturday afternoon in a consolation game at the 2015 Senior League Softball World Series.
The game was originally scheduled to take place late Friday afternoon, but inclement weather forced the game to be postponed until early Saturday afternoon.
Smith, who pitched every game for the Southwest Regional champions, was never in any trouble against the Europe-Africa champions from Prague, Czech Republic. The three hits she gave up were all singles. She struck out nine batters and walked just one.
“She had good command. She hit all her spots and kept them off balance,” Vidalia head coach Wesley McCarver said. “They never could catch up to her.”
McCarver added that Smith had kept on pitching throughout the tournament after suffering from a blood blister at the end of the team’s third game. But in the battle of teams that finished fourth out of five teams in their respective pools – Vidalia in Pool A and Prague in Pool B – Smith was dominant.
Anna McDaniel led off the bottom of the eighth with a double. Shelbie Vinet singled to put McDaniel at third. Vinet then stole second base to put runners in scoring position. Still with nobody out, Smith doubled in McDaniel to finally end the game.
McDaniel finished 2-for-4 with two doubles while Vinet was 3-for-4 and Smith was 2-for-4. Lexie Emanuel and Delicia Caesor each had a base hit.
“It was really good from them (to get another win at the tournament). It rained (Friday). They had their heads down,” McCarver said. “They finished seventh in the world. They’re proud of that. They had a really good time. They see what it takes to get to this point and compete.”