Blair softball steps up to the plate against Gaithersburg

Blair has encountered a few close games this season. Their game against Gaithersburg was no different. Players like Juliana Stevenson, and Elizabeth Inkellis stepped up to help in Blair's win.

Pitcher Emma Simson pitched for the first four innings. It seemed that Simson pitched with ease from the mound, but by the end of the fourth inning, Simson's arm became inflamed and she did not pitch for the remainder of the game. Senior Juliana Stevenson pitched in relief for Simson.

Although Stevenson has not pitched for any games the entire season, teammate Stephanie Cooney says "She did a really good job at pitching for her first game." In the first inning she pitched, Stevenson struck out one of Gaithersburg's batters.

By the top of the fifth, the inning Stevenson started to pitch, Blair was leading 2-0. At the top of the fifth, Gaithersburg came back, and pulled ahead of the Blazers, making the score 3-2.

Blair stepped up to the challenege of winning at the top of the seventh. Blair made two runs in the seventh to take the lead. Although Gaithersburg had an advantage of one more inning, the Blazers held them down with tough defense.

Many offensive plays helped Blair to win the game. Elizabeth "Inky" Inkellis in her first start the whole season hit a sacrifice fly ball to drive in the tie game, and in put in a winning run. " I was so scared," Inkellis says of the first chance in the game. "I started feeling better after a few minutes. Everyone was really supportive."

As the season draws to a close, the girls are focusing on perfecting their game. "In our last three games, our goals are to have no errors," says Cooney. Inkellis agrees. "We've been doing great so far," she says. According to Inkellis, "We have to get ready for playoffs."