"I think we're pretty deep all the way around," Breeden said while evaluating his team after the intrasquad series. "In the infield we've got two players at each position that can play without a lot of drop-off, and in the outfield we've got more than three people that can play without a lot of drop-off."
The three games of the Blue Raider Fall World Series provided fans with a glimpse into that balance and depth MT will have in the spring that Breeden referred to.
Upperclassmen paired well with newcomers on both teams, and the teams proved to be so balanced that they finished game three tied at 2-2 after splitting the first two games in the series.
In game one, the white team jumped out to an early lead with an RBI double by Lexi Cushing followed by a sacrifice fly by Amaya Harris in the first inning. In the third inning, Cushing struck again with a solo homer.
The blue team answered in the fifth inning on a Summer Burgess RBI single, but that was all her team could muster in game one, which ended with a score of 3-1. Corrina Dodd tossed all seven innings and struck out three for the white team in the series opener.
Cushing had the game's first RBI once again in game two with a solo home run to lead off the second inning, but the blue team took control of the game after that. Burgess singled in Jaya Herring in the fourth inning, and the game was tied 1-1.
Lani Rodriguez had one RBI and Jocelynn De La Cruz batted in two in the sixth inning to break the game open for the blue team, scoring Ryan King, Burgess and Shelby Sargent. The blue team finished off the 4-1 win, and Mia Marinakis earned the winning decision, going seven innings and only allowing four hits.
Both teams scored in the first inning of game three. Cushing's sacrifice fly scored Claire Smith for the white team, and the blue team added two runs in their half of the first. De La Cruz singled home Burgess, and Marinakis followed with an RBI double to score De La Cruz.
Savannah Freeman scored for the white team with two outs in the seventh to knot the game at 2-2, and that score held, ending the series in a tie. Amber Baldwin struck out four in the seven innings she pitched for the blue team, while Dodd pitched three perfect innings in relief for the white team.
At the plate, Cushing led all Blue Raiders in hits (5) and RBIs (4) and had the only two home runs in the Fall World Series. Fellow seniors Burgess and De La Cruz followed closely behind with four hits apiece.
"I've had a decent fall during scrimmages, but my overall batting average wasn't where I wanted it to be," Cushing said of her performance this fall. "I was able to string together two really good days and make our World Series as competitive as possible.
"I'm really happy with the competition we had when we mixed up the teams. It always stinks to lose, but once we leave the field, it's easy to remember that we're all on the same team and will be really good together," the senior slugger added.
As for the newcomers at the plate, Danielle Taitt, Nahri Tath-Slezak and Harris all went 3-for-9 in the series and made an impact for their club.
"I thought everybody knew this fall that Amaya Harris got better every day that we practiced and became more and more comfortable and had a tremendous Blue-White World Series. I thought she might've been the most dominant player we had in the whole series, no matter what her numbers say.
"Nahri is also going to be a good player for us. For a smaller person, she's got a punch in her bat, has a great arm, and has settled in behind Summer at shortstop. She may see some time in the outfield as well because if you can hit, you'll have a place to play," Breeden added.
Like Breeden, senior first baseman Lexi Cushing is also fond of this group of newcomers. "The freshmen have been impressive in practices and scrimmages this fall, and I think you could really tell how well they have meshed with the team and with their roles on the field. I'm looking forward to coming together and playing as one team this spring."
In the circle, Baldwin tossed a team-best 12 innings and struck out a team-high seven batters in her two appearances for the blue team. For the white team, Dodd posted the best ERA (0.70) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (4-1) and gave up the fewest hits of any Blue Raider pitcher.
"Corrina was our best pitcher this fall. She had a good bit of strikeouts, and she had command of all her pitches," Breeden said of the junior right-hander. "I don't think Amber threw as well this fall as she can, but we know what we're going to get when we put her in the circle in the spring. Danielle Taitt also did well, and we'll see how she can progress as we get into the spring."
With the fall now over, Middle Tennessee turns its attention to the 2021 season. When the Blue Raiders finally do take the field against a different team in the spring, Breeden and his staff will be able to mix up the lineup and beat teams in a number of different ways.
"We're going to have a lot of flexibility with our lineup, and we'll be able to go with who's hot," Breeden said. "We've got more team speed down the lineup than we have had, and I can see us doing some creative things with our lineup to get our speed players in to help us score some runs. I can also see some late inning defensive switches depending on who's hot and who's not."
November 02, 2020 at 01:10AM
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Raiders wrap up productive fall with Blue-White World Series - GoBlueRaiders.com
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