WCAC Softball
O'Connell Corrals Sixth Straight WCAC Title
O'Connell starter Jilly Falle is in complete control in a 1-0 win over St. Mary's Ryken. She allowed two hits and struck out 10 in seven innings.
(By Richard A. Lipski -- The Washington Post)
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Thursday, May 14, 2009
Yet another reason why pitchers have the ability to dominate in softball is that the game is only seven innings, seldom enough time for opponents to size up the girl in the circle and make in-game adjustments. O'Connell sophomore Jilly Falle was well aware of that as she entered the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference final yesterday against St. Mary's Ryken.
Falle easily sped through Ryken's lineup the first time through, and she worked the corners well when they saw her a second time. By then, she was well on her way to a 10-strikeout, two-hit shutout to secure a 1-0 victory at Catholic University and clinch O'Connell's sixth straight WCAC title and 13th since league teams began playing softball in 1994.
"The first few innings, you just have to jump on them," said Falle, who retired the first nine batters and struck out seven. "Because after that, they noticed I was throwing outside a lot. So they started crowding the plate, and then I had to work the corners."
Falle, one of eight underclassmen who start for O'Connell, had an 0-2 count on six of the first nine batters she faced. While she doesn't yet have the velocity of some of the area's top pitchers, Falle's pitches have excellent movement and she was able to hit spots early on.
By the second time through, however, Ryken (18-5) found a little more patience. Three batters worked full counts on Falle, but aside from a pair of singles by Steph Dameron, the Knights' bats could not find open field.
"They certainly started to figure her out," O'Connell Coach Tommy Orndorff said. "But her curveball has really good movement. When she has it working, it's really tough to hit her."
O'Connell (21-4) broke through against Dameron in the bottom of the third.
After No. 9 hitter Tori Portell was hit by a pitch with two outs, Jessica Burk, O'Connell's leading hitter, drove a sinking liner down the first base line that fell under the glove of the charging right fielder. It rolled into the corner, and Portell scored easily.
"You knew it was a game that was going to come down to one team making the first mistake," Ryken Coach Scott Kuhns said, "and, unfortunately, it was us. But we couldn't get those hits to fall. They had us played perfectly."
O'Connell 1, St. Mary's Ryken 0 Turning 20 Again: O'Connell has won at least 20 games for the 17th straight season. Busy Week: In addition to playing the WCAC semifinals and final Monday and yesterday, O'Connell won the quarterfinals of the Virginia Independent Schools tournament on Tuesday, and has the semifinals and final of that event today and tomorrow in Petersburg, Va.
