Breckenridge at Fulton/Ashley – – Second Game of Softball Doubleheader – – The Bleacher Denizen – – April 22, 2025 – – by Chuck Krafft
Today, your Bleacher Denizen is in Ashley watching a softball doubleheader between the Fulton Pirates (who have a coop softball team with Ashley) and the Breckenridge Huskies. As Fulton officially has the team, I will refer to the Fulton Pirates in this article.
I also covered the first game of this doubleheader. Here is the play by play of that game.
While the teams are eating their between-game meal and getting ready for Game 2, I hope you will enjoy this rendition of “Georgia” from my You Tube Channel! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrWlNWzmTiw
Breckenridge Coach Sydney Willman and Fulton Coach Clint Canfield gave me the starting lineups. In an interesting modern high school baseball/softball procedure, even though we are in Ashley, where the Fulton Pirates are hosting the Breckenridge Huskies, Breckenridge will be the “home” team this game and Fulton will bat first. Your Bleacher Denizen is still a bit bamboozled by this, but the game will go on!
Here are the starting lineups.
FULTON
Jaci Canfield p
Audrey Smolinski 2b
Hannah Warren rf
Kaya Canfield c
Jazmyne Good cf
Kerrigan Ryan ss
Addison Smolinski 1b
Zoe Schneider lf
Ellie Drummond 3b
BRECKENRIDGE
Lydia Slavik c
Ady Collins ss
Blair Davenport 3b
Emma Tinson cf
Leah Wale p
Ava Colthorp dh
Lily St. John 1b
Presley Butcher lf
Liberty Short rf
Emily Anderson will play second base, but will not bat.
It is now time to review the events of this game through the eyes of an Aging Bleacher Denizen who was never able to get his baseball career off the ground. However, opposing catchers and umpires all were delighted with the cooling breezes generated by your Bleacher Denizen’s flailing attempts to hit pitched baseballs.
Just like in the first game, the game’s leadoff hitter blasted a home run. This time, it was Jaci Canfield, who cruched the home run over the left-center field fence for Fulton. Breckenridge Pitcher Leah Wale retired the next three Pirate batters on a grounder to the shortstop, a grounder to third base and a fly to second base where Emily Anderson made a fine running catch.
Fulton scored one run in the top of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.
Fulton Catcher Kaya Canfield made an excellent running, diving catch of a Huskie foul popup to record the first out of the bottom of the first inning. Ady Collins walked and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Zoe Schneider made a nice running catch of a fly to left field for the second out. Ady Collins scored when Emma Tinson was safe at third base on a series of errors. Leah Wale walked. Ava Brzak entered the game as a courtesy runner for Leah Wale and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Fulton Pitcher Jaci Canfield struck out the next Huskie hitter to end the inning.
Breckenridge scored one run in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game at 1-1.
Jazmyne Good lined a single down the left field line to open the top of the second inning for Fulton and advanced to second base on a groundout to first base by Kerrigan Ryan. Leah Wale struck out the next Fulton batter. Zoe Schneider singled off the third baseman’s glove and Jazmyne Good advanced to third base. Jazmyne Good scored and Zoe Schneider took second base on a wild pitch. Zoe Schneider advanced to third base on another wild pitch. Leah Wale retired the next hitter on a grounder to the pitcher’s circle to end the inning.
Fulton scored one run in the top of the second inning to take a 2-1 lead.
Fulton Shortstop Kerrigan Ryan went back to short center field and caught a fly to retire the first Breckenridge batter of the bottom of the second inning. Jaci Canfield struck out the next Huskie hitter. Liberty Short beat out an infield single and went to second base on an overthrow. Lydia Slavik walked. Liberty Short scored and Lydia Slavik advanced to second base when Ady Collins was safe at first base on an error.
Blair Davenport walked to load the bases. Lydia Slavik scored, Ady Collins went to third base and Blair Davenport to second base on a wild pitch. Jaci Canfield retired the next batter on a fly to center field to end the inning.
Breckenridge scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning and took the lead at 3-2.
Emily Anderson made a great running catch at second base to retire Fulton’s leadoff batter in the top of the third inning. Aubrey Smolinski was safe at first base on an error. Breckenridge Catcher Lydia Slavik fired the ball to first base to pick the runner off. Hannah Warren walked and scored on a double to deep left field by Kaya Canfield. Emily Anderson made another fine play at second base where she knocked down a line drive by Jazmyne Good and was able to throw her out at first base to end the inning.
Fulton scored one run in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 3-3.
Leah Wale beat out an infield single to open the bottom of the third inning for the Huskies. Ava Brzak entered the game as a courtesy runner for Leah Wale. Ava Colthrop doubled to right field and Ava Brzak advanced to third base. Breckenridge had runners on second and third base with zero out.
The next Huskie batter was out on a fly to right field. Fulton Right Fielder Hannah Warren relayed the ball to Addison Smolinski at first base; Addison Smolinski fired the ball to Catcher Kaya Canfield, who tagged out the Breckenridge runner trying to tag up and score from third base. Jaci Canfield retired the next Breckenridge hitter on a grounder to the pitcher to end the inning.
Fulton got out of a tough situation and the game remained tied at 3-3 after three full innings.
Kerrigan Ryan doubled to right field and took third base on an error to lead off the top of the fourth inning for Fulton. Addison Smolinski singled to right field to drive Kerrigan Ryan home. Addison Smolinski was out at second base and Zoe Schneider safe at first base on a fielder’s choice grounder to the shortstop. Zoe Schneider advanced to second base on a groundout to second base by Ellie Drummond.
Breckenridge Catcher Lydia Slavik made a great diving effort to catch a foul popup, but was not successful. Fulton made its third out on a popup to the shortstop.
Fulton scored one run in the top of the fourth inning and moved on top by one run at 4-3.
Jaci Canfield retired the first two Huskie hitters in the bottom of the fourth inning on a grounder to second base and a fly to deep left field where Zoe Schneider made a great catch. Ady Collins singled to center field and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Blair Davenport was hit by a pitch. The next Huskie batter was out on a foul popup to the catcher to end the inning.
Thanks to Fulton Assistant Coach Sara Canfield for her help when your Bleacher Denizen had a senior moment and missed Blair Davenport being hit by the pitch. (When an unexpected batter came up to lead off the fifth inning for Breckenridge, I knew I had made a mistake.) Thanks to Ms. Canfield for her help getting my notes straightened out!!
Leah Wale struck out the Fulton leadoff batter in the top of the fifth inning. Hannah Warren beat out an infield single and went to second base when Kaya Canfield singled to center field. Leah Wale retired the next Fulton batter on a soft line drive to the shortstop. Kerrigan Ryan singled to left field to drive Hannah Warren home from second base; Kaya Canfield was also able to score from first base on an errant throw as Kerrigan Ryan went to second base. Leah Wale retired the next batter on a bouncer to the pitcher.
Fulton scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to boost its lead to 6-3.
Leah Wale singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth inning for Breckenridge. Ava Brzak entered the game as a courtesy runner for Leah Wale. Ava Colthorp doubled and Ava Brzak advanced to third base. Ava Brzak scored and Ava Colthorp advanced to third base on an RBI groundout to the shortstop by Lily St. John.
Presley Carpenter lined a single to center field to drive Ava Colthorp home. Presley Carpenter advanced to second base on a groundout to third base by Liberty Short. Lydia Slavik was hit by a pitch. Jaci Canfield retired the next Breckenridge hitter on a fly to left field to end the inning.
Breckenridge scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the Fulton lead to 6-5.
Leah Wale struck out Fulton’s leadoff batter in the top of the sixth inning. Ellie Drummond singled up the middle and advanced to third base when Jaci Canfield was safe at second base on an error. Leah Wale struck out the next batter and got Fulton’s third out on a grounder to first base.
Blair Davenport singled to center field to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning for Breckenridge. Fulton Third baseman knocked down a line drive off the bat of Emma Tinson and threw her out at first base as Blair Davenport went to second base. Leah Wale walked and Ava Brzak entered the game as her courtesy runner.
Ava Colthorp hit an apparent single to right field, but Fulton Right Fielder Hannah Warren alertly fired the ball to second base to force out Ava Brzak as Blair Davenport went to third base. Jaci Canfield retired the next batter on a foul popup to her sister Kaya Canfield to end the inning while holding the Huskies scoreless.
After six innings, Fulton had a 6-5 lead.
The umpires then overrode objections by both teams’ coaches to end the game because it was 7:35 PM and they thought it was too late to start another inning. (No comment.)
Fulton won the second game by a 6-5 score to sweep the doubleheader.
Ava Colthorp had two doubles for Breckenridge. Leah Wale had two singles. Presley Carpenter had a single and one RBI. Ady Collins, Blair Davenport, Emma Tinson and Liberty Short each contributed one single. Lily St. John had one RBI.
Leah Wale pitched the complete game for Breckenridge and struck out four batters.
Jaci Canfield had a home run and one RBI for Fulton. Kaya Canfield and Kerrigan Ryan each had a double, a single and one RBI. Addison Smolinski had one single and two RBI. Hannah Warren, Jazmyne Good, Zoe Schneider and Ellie Drummond each had one single.
Jaci Canfield pitched the complete game for Fulton and struck out two batters.