KNOX, Pa. (EYT/D9) — With first base open in a 6-2 game in the top of the seventh inning, Karns City softball coach Mike Stitt elected to intentionally walk Keystone senior slugger Natalie Bowser.
Not a bad move considering what Bowser did last season. She hit 14 home runs — and made 14 outs — while batting .733. She was a terror at the plate, a player no one wanted to face with the bases empty, let alone with runners on.
(Above, Leah Exley, left, and Natalie Bowser have combined to go 10-of-15 with four home runs, four doubles and 15 RBI in three games this season for Keystone)
Bowser trotted to first and in stepped junior Leah Exley.
On the first pitch, Exley took a swing and launched a game-tying grand slam.
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
Keystone ended up losing the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, 7-6, but Exley has proven to be just as dangerous with a bat in her hands as Bowser so far early in 2022.
Teams are rethinking walking Bowser. She’s seeing more good pitches then she ever thought she would, and the pair are off to a torrid start.
“I think it was a smart choice by the coaches to have me after (Bowser) because a lot of teams are going to intentionally walk her,” Exley said. “I’ve had a good start to the season and hopefully I can continue to do that and they won’t be able to walk her.”
Exley has almost been impossible to get out. In three games, she’s 4-for-7 with two home runs, two doubles and 10 RBI.
Bowser is also picking up where she left off last season with six hits in eight at-bats, with two home runs, two doubles and five RBI.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Bowser said. “It’s an amazing feeling to have a teammate hitting behind me who can crush the ball. It feels so good to actually be able to hit and actually show them what we’re made of.”
Beyond Bowser and Exley, the Keystone lineup is loaded, which also bodes well for the Panthers.
Keystone (2-1) has scored 27 runs in three games.
“We’re stacked,” said Keystone softball coach John Stiglitz. “We have good, solid hitters. That’s the idea. It’s my job to put those hitters around Natalie and have them bring her around if they intentionally walk her.”
Or Exley, too.
That’s what Redbank Valley did on Monday, intentionally walking both Bowser and Exley with one out in the top of the third inning.
Karley Callander hit a three-run home run later in the inning.
Gabby Wolbert and Sydney Bell, the top two hitters in the lineup, are getting on base and a prodigious rate, too.
“That’s the goal,” Stiglitz said. “We want to be strong one through nine.”
“We have a really nice mix,” Exley said. “We have people at the bottom who can absolutely crush the ball.”
Exley, who is also a pitcher, wouldn’t want to face this Keystone lineup.
No way. No how.
How would she approach pitching to Bowser or herself?
“Be very careful,” she said, smiling.
Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.
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