Brett Favre was listed on injured reserve,
Mike Piazza was placed on the disabled list (DL), and
Serena Williams sat out Wimbledon due to a sprained ankle. When a professional athlete is injured during competition, the media will provide a cute phrase in order to grab the reader's attention. When a high school athlete is injured, not many people take notice (other than teammates, friends, and family) unless the athlete is a "star" performer. I took notice this afternoon as an unsung hero of softball went down during a game between the Bulldogs of Pasadena High School and the John Burroughs Indians.
The Bulldogs took to the field at the top of the first inning, with
Ms. Pineta on the mound and
Ms. Campos catching (coaches are not always good at providing first names for players - my apologies to the Bulldogs).
Kerry Hodgins was walked by Pineta, stole second base on a passed ball, and then stole third on a second passed ball. Indians' catcher
Katie Budrick reached base on an error by the shortstop, which allowed Hodgins to score from third.
Casey Reichelderfer was brought in as a courtesy runner for Budrick (this is often done to "save" the legs of the catcher). Two wild pitches later, Reichelderfer found herself on third, followed by
Jade Terry's walk.
The fourth batter of the inning,
Cassie Colón, should have struck out for the first out of the inning; however, Campos dropped the third strike, which allowed Colón to reach first base on what is called D3 (if first base is not occupied by another runner). As Colón ran to first base, Reichelderfer ran home and collided with the Bulldog catcher. The collision resulted in a serious injury to Ms. Campos. The game was halted as paramedics were called, and Ms. Campos was eventually transported to a local hospital accompanied by
Joe Deladillo, the varsity softball coach. The Bulldogs found themselves down to eight players and without a coach. Facing forfeiture, several players ran over to the school and returned with a faculty member who coached the rest of the game.
The inning restarted but Burroughs was unable to score additional runs. The Bulldogs sent four batters to the plate in the bottom half of the inning, but could not produce a run. The second inning saw Burroughs send eight batters to face Pineta, managing two runs in the process. Four Bulldog batters faced Terry without advancing past second base.
The third inning saw Burroughs score two more runs on a double by Hodgins, a single from Budrick, and a walk to
Angela Parker. Terry made short order of the Bulldogs, striking out two and playing a grounder back to the pitcher, throwing out the runner.
The fourth inning was scoreless for the Indians while Pasadena attempted to get their offense going as six batters came to the plate, unable to score. Leading 5-0, the Indians started off the fifth inning with a single by
Liz Hanna; four batters later Hanna was left stranded. The Bulldogs managed one hit against Terry in the bottom half of the inning but could not push across a run.
The sixth inning was uneventful for both sides. Burroughs batted their way through the seventh inning with three hits (including a triple by Reichelderfer), a walk, a sacrifice, and
Lizzie Peters (entered the inning to relieve Terry) reaching first base when a pitch hit her. When the third out was called, Burroughs added four more runs. Coach Deladillo returned to the field and saw the Bulldogs manage one hit off of Peters in the bottom half of the inning. It was not enough, as Burroughs defeated the Bulldogs 9-0.