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Williams' second no-hitter leads Amador Valley to victory
Williams’ second no-hitter leads Amador Valley to victory
By NATE SMITH
Prep2Prep.com
March 31, 2017
PLEASANTON, CA – Playing in honor of a fellow classmate and student-athlete who passed away during the week, Amador Valley rode the arm of junior pitcher Danielle Williams to a 6-0 win over Dublin on Thursday afternoon.
Williams tossed her second no-hitter of the season, with 11 strikeouts, and faced the minimum 21 batters in a dominant performance over the Gaels. The lone Dublin base-runner occurred on an eight-pitch walk to lead off the top of the sixth inning, spoiling Williams’ shot at a perfect game, but the next batter popped up into a double play, when Williams made a diving catch and doubled the runner off at first base.
“(Danielle) has tremendous resiliency, and the team played great defense behind her,” said Amador Valley coach Teresa Borchard. “She pitched a fantastic game against Livermore (17 strikeouts in a 3-2 loss on Monday). The difference today was that we made adjustments at the plate.”
The Dons played with heavy hearts on Thursday, wearing green ribbons in support of a classmate – whose name we are leaving out for privacy purposes – who had passed away in the middle of the week. They were also looking to get back on the winning track after falling to EBAL leader Livermore earlier in the week.
“The loss to Livermore is a very small thing right now,” Borchard said. “Hats off to these kids to be able to come out and focus for two hours and play in honor of their classmate and her family.”
Amador Valley wasted no time getting on the board in this one, scoring twice in the first inning. Hannah Myers doubled to drive in Jessica Emde with one out, and that was followed by Williams’ single to center, scoring Myers. A single run in the fourth inning, on a sacrifice fly from Ana Beard, extended the lead before three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning put the game away.
Amador Valley takes the field next in the Michelle Carew Classic, beginning April 6 against Cienega-AZ. Dublin has a break for the next couple weeks.
