SMETHPORT — Another day, another win for the Smethport High softball team.
Dynah Kimble threw five shutout innings, striking out five and Torri Johnson was the table setter at the top of the lineup as the Lady Hubbers earned a 10-0, five-inning win over Oswayo Valley on Thursday.
“I’m real happy with the way Dynah pitched,” said Smethport coach Dr. Jim Kane. “All our seniors did a great job tonight.”
In the final home game for the seniors, Johnson, who stars along with fellow senior and twin Tierra, set the tone for the offense.
After OV stranded a pair of runners in the top of the first, Johnson drew a leadoff walk that spearheaded a five-run inning.
“Torri has been on a tear at the leadoff spot,” Kane said. “She’s been doing a fantastic job. I’m not sure what her on-base percentage is during this stretch, but it has to be around .800.”
The Lady Hubbers (14-1) actually scored all of their runs in the first without the ball leaving the infield via a base hit.
Quinn Burdick followed Johnson with an infield single and Brooke Kane-Walker’s single to deep short scored Johnson, the team’s starting catcher.
Cleanup hitter Tori Transue hit a sacrifice fly to Catie Kohl in center, while Alyssa Larson also had an RBI single in the inning in between a pair of wild pitches.
The Green Wave actually had chances in both the first and second innings, but Kimble got out of the two-on jam in the first with a strikeout, and got a lineout double play off the bat of Abby Matthews in the second after Kahlie Carpenter had singled.
“Oswayo Valley is getting a lot better,” Kane said. “Rick (Nudd) has been doing a real good job with them and they have made marked improvements from the last time that we played them.”
Kimble was in control from the second inning on, allowing just one more baserunner (via error) the rest of the game after the Carpenter single.
Smethport tacked on a single run on an RBI from Kane-Walker in the third and two more in the fourth on a wild pitch and an RBI single from Tierra Johnson.
Torri Johnson reached base for the third time in four plate appearances to start the fifth, and pinch-runner Ivy Woodruff came around the score to the 10th and final run on wild pitch.
Oswayo Valley starter Madison Nudd struck out three, allowed eight hits and walked five.
Next up for the Lady Hubbers is a Saturday (noon) showdown at Otto-Eldred, that will go a long way toward determining the Northern Allegheny League title.
“It’s going to be a big one,” Kane said.
