Hurricanes 14U was back at it Friday night with THREE GAMES on tap, this time starting Friday around dinner time and ending just after midnight on “Saturday morning.” Once again, the girls found themselves playing for a teammate, this time Audrey Dorsch, as she was a late scratch, not feeling the best with some kind of bug.
Girls played well, going 2-0-1 on the night, and had a pretty good Top 40 list (changing the name of the Top Performer section to match a dugout award we have):
Olivia “Tank” Finnie
Tank was a trooper catching 9 of the 13 innings played and continues to get more confident calling the games from behind the dish. She also had 4 RBIs from three hits, one of which was a moonshot home run into the seats (full of Hurricane fans) in left field.
Rachel Perrine
Rach batted .667 on the evening, knocking in 2 runs and scoring a couple herself. She also played solid defense in left field for the Canes, keeping a couple of runs off the board with her glove, arm, and quick decisions.
Alexa LaRocca
Alexa hit over .300 on the night but shined with her glove. Playing 2nd and SS, she was busy, with 7 total chances in the 3 games, handling all 6 of them, and the lone error coming on a tough play at SS in the final game just before midnight.
Charlotte: “My last name is my nickname” Toohey
Toohey stuck out in game 2 on Friday. Why are we mentioning a strikeout in the Top 40 recap? Because this is the first time in 14 GAMES that she has done so, 30 plate appearances without a strikeout needs to be recognized. She didn’t let it get to her, though, and continues to grow into hitting lead-off for the Canes, hitting 400 on the night, with a couple of walks, hits, and RBIs.
Olivia “Putty” Putman
Like her OF counterpart (Rachel), Putty had a few plays in the OF chasing down balls in the gap that held girls to a single instead of extra bases. These plays don’t show up on the stat sheet, but coaches notice (Putty had the opposing first base coaches commenting on her play). She also remained WHITE HOT at the plate, collecting 3 more hits, including a double and triple, which drove in 3 runs. Putty has been working her butt off on improving her swing, and it’s paying off. This is the third consecutive time Putty has made the Top 40 list.
Kate Paulowicz
Kate was a bulldog on the mound AGAIN, carrying the load for the canes with our other pitchers (Audrey and Sydney) being out and nursing injuries, respectively. Kate logged 7 innings for the Canes, giving up only 2 runs the entire night while collecting 4K’s, and was a magician mixing up speeds and changing locations. She kept hitters guessing all night on what was coming next.
This is the fourth consecutive time Kate has made it to the Top 40 list.
