Bald Eagle’s Sierra Albright strikes out 18 in District 6 Class 3A victory over Central
There’s a growing sense of confidence building within Bald Eagle’s softball team.
Its presence could be felt in the Lady Eagles’ District 6 Class 3A semifinal matchup with Central, as they defeated the Dragons 7-0 on Thursday. The epitome of their conviction comes from their pitcher Sierra Albright. As the ninth-grader steps into the circle, she constantly delivers.
Strike one. Strike two. Strike three. “You’re out,” yelled the umpire.
That happened 18 times in Thursday’s game. She just had 18 strikeouts in Bald Eagle’s victory over Central Cambria on Monday. She allowed just two hits and no runs over seven innings on Thursday. The irony in it all is that she had no idea of what she just accomplished — especially in the playoffs.
“I’m really confident because I know my defense has my back, but my pitch-caller (assistant coach Josh Eckert) has gotten to know me a lot better and he’s doing really well,” Albright said. “We have a great future ahead of us.”
Great pitching is often protected by great hitting. Bald Eagle tallied seven hits on the day and two of them were home runs.
The first one was from Ava Stere in the top of the fifth inning. With Kailey Eckert on base following a walk and stealing second base, Stere blasted the ball over the fence to give the Lady Eagles a 4-0 lead, driving in two runs.
“I knew the first two at-bats weren’t my best at-bats,” Stere said. “So, I just got right back up and wanted to keep going and I just struck the ball and that happened luckily.”
With the importance of the steady and calm underclasswomen, it takes fiery leadership from the seniors to take charge in important situations. Madison Perry’s excitement went through the roof, as she blasted a solo home run to lead off the sixth inning and provide a 5-0 lead over Central. She went 3-for-4 from the plate.
“Personally, I didn’t know if it was going over, but it was good to see that it did go over,” Perry said. “But I think what’s cool about this team is that no matter where we’re at in the lineup, nobody’s praying that we get on and the cards just fell into my hands tonight and it was my turn. My whole team does it all year-round. I guess today was just my turn and I was feeling good.”
The Lady Eagles got off to a strong start when Sydney Thompson singled in the second inning to score Perry and give them a 1-0 lead. Perry later scored in the fourth inning on a steal of home plate to put Bald Eagle up 2-0. Stere’s two-run blast gave them a 4-0 lead in the fifth and Perry’s solo shot gave the Lady Eagles a 5-0 advantage in the sixth.
Bald Eagle continued to pile on the runs in the seventh inning with Perry’s single to score Eckert and Stere for the 7-0 victory.
Head coach Don Lucas is impressed with his team’s composure while showing him the attitude of “grizzled veterans” despite being youthful. The calmness of the girls was shown when they decided to play hacky sack prior to the game to stay loose and have fun.
It’s just the way that the Lady Eagles like to fly.
“We only have a couple of seniors, we have a freshman pitcher, a freshman catcher, a freshman center fielder, a freshman left fielder and a couple of sophomores mixed in there,” Lucas said. “That’s just a testament to them — their testiness, their not wanting to lose. I said to them today, when they get on the field, they get on the bus and get to the field, we had 10 minutes go and they say, ‘Let’s go play hacky sack.’ That just tells you that we’re ready to play.”
Bald Eagle is set to take on Westmont-Hilltop in the District 6 Class 3A championship on June 2 at Saint Francis University.
This story was originally published May 26, 2022 at 9:01 PM.
