P.O. Box 5
Afton, NY 13730
607.639.8200

From
The Daily Star
Monday
June 11, 2001

A Page of history

Afton sophomore pitcher throws no-hitter in Class D championship game

Defense keys 8-0 title victory

By Rob Centorani
Staff Writer

UNIONDALE — Perhaps the most historic page in the annals of Afton softball was written on a steamy Saturday afternoon at Mitchel Field.

Fittingly, it was sophomore Jessie Page — receiving a big assist from her defense — who took center stage as the Indians saved their best performance for the final day of the season.

Page capped a day in which she allowed one hit over 14 innings by no-hitting defending champion Chapel Field, 8-0, in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class D title game.

Page, who tossed her first no-hitter, did not have a strikeout in her 56-pitch outing, which sealed the Indians' fifth state title and first since 1996.

"You talk about putting it all together on an important day," said Afton coach Cindy Bostelman, whose team defeated Hinsdale, 11-2, in the semifinal on Saturday morning. "It was a really good performance."

Afton (21-4) had struggled to beat Deposit in the Section Four final and Hamilton in a state quarterfinal, but had no such problems on Saturday.

"You think when you go into states, you're going to be playing the best teams, which we did, but you think it's going to be 1-0 or 2-1," junior catcher Ashley Sherman said. "It's great to finish this way."

As for Page's no-hitter, it may have been the least spectacular and most economical in Afton history. She didn't mow down hitters the way Afton graduates Holly Aprile and Andi Noyes did in the past. Instead, she used her heavy pitches to induce routine grounders or harmless popups.

"It's the way the ball moves (that teams don't hit the ball hard against her), and she has trust in her defense," Bostelman said. "She hits her spots and the defense makes plays."

Sherman, Page's batterymate, added: "Jess knows she has a defense behind her. We're going to field groundballs and we're going to run balls down, and make plays when we need to and that's what we did.

"Today, you would have never known it was a state championship game," Sherman continued. "She just put that in the back of her head and just pitched."

Page allowed two baserunners, on a hit batsman to lead off the game and on a throwing error by second baseman Renee Kemmerer in the sixth inning. Her highest pitch count in an inning was 13, and she didn't throw more than nine in any other.

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"The nice thing about it was, with the heat, if they were going be that aggressive with the bat and take the pitch right off the bat, it helped her," Bostelman said. "She had more time to sit in the dugout than out in the circle."

Similar to Afton's semifinal victory, Page started the game by hitting the leadoff batter as she smacked Laura Schweiger in the foot. However, Schweiger was erased when pitching counterpart Julie Schaper hit a grounder to Kemmerer, who tagged out the runner and threw to first for a double play. It was the second such double play Kemmerer had turned on the day.

In the bottom of the inning, Liz Akshar manufactured the only run the Indians would need. Her bunt died between the rubber and the plate for a single with one out. Akshar stole second and went to third on a groundout by Brigitte Hansen, then scored on a wild pitch.

Akshar said she hasn't bunted much this season.

"I don't know," she said when asked why she decided to bunt. "I guess I just really wanted (to win a state title)."

The Indians pushed across another run in the second inning. Sherman led off with a single to left as she fought off an inside pitch. Schaper then struck out Lindsey Page and Christina Kirkaldy, en route to 12 in the game to tie the single-season state strikeout record at 259.

Pinch-runner Ashley Manderville advanced to second on a wild pitch before No. 8 hitter Heather Sines lined a single into right-center for a 2-0 lead.

"Once you get those first couple runs, it puts the pressure on the other team," Bostelman said.

Then Afton's defense went to work. Shortstop Kris Kelly fielded five chances cleanly, including two from deep in the hole.

"That shortstop has a rocket for an arm," Chapel Field coach Bill Spanjer Jr. said of Kelly.

Third baseman Brandy Jennings handled three chances flawlessly and Page preserved her no-hitter by gloving a wicked liner off the bat Schweiger to end the sixth.

Arguably the best play of the day was turned in by right fielder Akshar, who ran down a liner by Lauren Vogel for the second out of the fifth inning.

"I have to give it to Afton," said Spanjer, whose team brought a 22-game winning streak into the final. "They made all the plays. That girl makes that play in right field. That ball was in the gap, but she just strided over and made the play."

Then, in what has become an Indians trademark, Afton piled up runs in the sixth inning, scoring six times with two out. In the Section Four final, the Indians scored four in the sixth for a 7-5 victory, and in a state quarterfinal against Hamilton, Afton scored three in the sixth en route to a 6-4 triumph.

Lindsey Page, who has been a roll at the plate since the start of sectionals, grounded a single to left for her second hit of the game. Kirkaldy, the lone senior in Afton's starting lineup, walked before Sines singled to left to load the bases.

Jennings then lined a single into right-center that scored two runs. Kemmerer blasted the next pitch over the left fielder's head for a two-run double that made it 6-0.

"That was an inning we lost our grip for the first time all season," Spanjer said. "We hadn't given up more than four runs in a game all season."

Jessie Page got the final batter, Amber Wilson, to ground to short, and the Indians converged for a group hug in the pitcher's circle.

"A lot of people didn't expect us to do that great, because we had to switch pitchers," Kelly said of Page taking over this season for 2000 graduate April Cornell. "The team helped out a lot and Jessie pitched really well."

In the semifinal victory over Hinsdale, Afton scored three times in the third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Akshar led off with a bunt-single toward third and Hansen walked. Both runners moved up on a passed ball and scored on Kelly's ground-rule double, which hopped over the left-field fence on one bounce. One out later, Kelly scored on Lindsey Page's double down the left-field line.

Jessie Page started the game by hitting the first batter and then walking the next two to load the bases. Melissa Gaylor's sacrifice fly tied the score at 1, but then Sherman, after receiving the throw from left, alertly threw behind Megan Meyer at first base for a double play.

Gaylor's RBI single in the third inning was Hinsdale's lone hit of the game.

Page finished with three strikeouts and seven walks.

AFTON 8, CHAPEL FIELD 0