Opponents of the New Hope High School fast-pitch softball team devised a handy way to describe the Lady Trojans’ two-headed pitching machine.
On one hand, they said, was Lauren Holifield, a junior right-hander who was more of a “pitcher” because she worked in offspeed pitches to keep hitters off balance.
On the other hand, they contended, was D.J. Sanders, a sophomore right-hander who was a harder thrower and maybe not as polished as her counterpart.
Sanders is doing away with those labels one pitch at a time.
On a day when all pitchers shouldered a little more pressure, Sanders responded by making pitch after pitch to work her way out of trouble. Not only did she pitch three scoreless innings in a 2-1 victory against Lake Cormorant in game two, but she also pitched a complete-game two-hitter to lead New Hope to a 1-0 victory Monday in the deciding game of the best-of-three Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State title series.
“I guess right now it still isn’t real,” Sanders said. “If you give me a few seconds to take it in, I will feel a little better. I am playing more for my senior (Anna McCrary) and my coach (Tabitha Beard) because I know it means so much more to them. This is the first time this has happened in a long time. I am really excited about it, but I really want to do it for my coach and my teammates.”
Beard said she wasn’t sure if she would stick with Holifield, who started game two Saturday, or go with Sanders, who lost game one 3-2 on Thursday, when the game resumed in the sixth inning Monday. She had some nervous moments when Sanders loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh inning of game two. Sanders worked her way back from a 3-0 count to Carla Avant and induced the No. 3 hitter to ground a 3-2 to third base. Kaitlin Bradley fielded the ball and threw to Kasey Stanfield at home for the first out. Stanfield then fired the ball back to third, where Holifield stretched to meet the ball and complete the double play. Sanders struck out the next batter to end the inning.
Sanders said she didn’t lose her cool in that moment, even though she fell behind Avant.
“I told myself, you’re going to be really mad at yourself if you get to thinking about this game and you get to messin’ up, so I didn’t think about it,” said Sanders, who didn’t know she would finish game two until she reached the field. “I guess my head was just clear today.”
Like any good pitcher, Sanders credited her defense for proving strong support. She said she has grown comfortable with the notion of pitching to contact because she trusts her defense.
Beard didn’t want to say Sanders wouldn’t have been able to work out of that jam last season, but she said she has developed more confidence in Sanders this season.
“Maturity wise, I think she handled me a lot better than she ever did last year,” Beard said. “I kind of came out here and I didn’t chew her out, but I told her, ‘You can do this. You need to settle down.’ She has the ability to settle down better than she ever did, and that is maturity.”
In the eighth, the international tiebreaker, which puts a runner on second base to start the inning, didn’t faze Sanders, either. She struck out the last two batters to send New Hope back to the plate.
Sanders played a key role in the bottom half of the inning, sacrificing Bradley, who started at second, to third base. Stanfield followed with a single up the middle to set the stage for game three.
Sanders started off slowly in the rubber game. She fell behind seven of the first 10 batters before she settled down and found her rhythm.
While Sanders’ velocity has been clocked in the low 60s, her placement Monday was just as impressive. With the game scoreless and a runner on third, Sanders ended the sixth by going up and in on No. 2 hitter Susie Pugh, a left-hander, and inducing a weak comebacker. She did the same in the seventh when she tied up Naomi Newcom, a right-hander, with another pitch that was up and in with a runner on second base. The grounder back to the circle was the final scene in an epic 10-inning performance that saw Sanders allow four hits, walk two, and strike out eight.
“She came out a little nervous, got a little rattled, and then settled down beautifully,” Beard said. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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