Senior pitcher makes her debut in Zephyrhills 7-4 loss to Seffner Christian
Senior pitcher Amberlyn Davis stood in the pitching circle Friday night took a deep breath and fired. The game against Seffner Christian was her first varsity action of the season for the Lady Bulldogs following an ankle injury.
The right-hander showed no signs of the injury in her two innings of work in her debut. She left the game with a 3-2 lead, but the Bulldogs fell to the Crusaders 7-4.
“I was a little nervous, but it felt good to be back out there,” said Davis. “My ankle feels good. I’m having a lot of fun.”
Freshman Laila Woolfork came on in relief in the final five innings giving up seven hits while striking out six.
Davis allowed a pair of runs in the first inning, but the Bulldogs answered back in the bottom of the inning to knot the game at 2-2. Davis kept the Crusaders off the board in the second and Zephyrhills took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the frame.
The Zephyrhills’ put 11 runners on through seven innings, but struggled to score. Picking up hits for the Bulldogs were Woolfork, Ariah Drovandi, Hannah Helms and Madison Schroeder. Woolfork and Harmonie Scribner scored two runs each.
“We have everybody back now and this wasn’t a bad game,” said head coach Kristen Dumont. “One hit, one catch, one ball and it could have been a different outcome.”
With Davis’ return, the Lady Bulldogs have four pitchers in their rotation with 17 games left in the season.
“Pitching is where we’ve lacked, so having Amberlyn back gives us four pitchers and has us sitting pretty good,” Dumont said. “She was upset we took her out, but she hasn’t pitched in four weeks. She will get a lot more innings.”