JUDA - Lon Scheuerell has seen a steady diet of the Juda softball program in his 11 seasons as Orangeville (Ill.) coach.
In Scheuerell's opinion, this is the finest Panthers team his Broncos have faced.
"We play Juda every year and this seems like the most solid team they've put together," Scheuerell said. "I definitely see them doing some good things this year."
Juda-Albany produced plenty of good to go around Monday in defeating Orangeville 5-1 in a non-conference game at a blustery Juda Community Park.
Topping the list was senior pitcher Amber Ramos, who has picked up right where she left off in a stellar junior season. The right-hander allowed just two hits and recorded 18 strikeouts.
Ramos struck out the side in four of the seven innings while keeping the Broncos (11-6) completely off balance by throwing all four of her pitches - fastball, rise, changeup and drop - for strikes.
"Pretty much everything I threw was working pretty good," Ramos said.
The senior said she had "no idea" what her strikeout high is for a varsity game. But she was sure about one thing.
"We were talking before the game that (the Panthers' seniors) have never beaten Orangeville before," Ramos said. "We're really excited to beat them."
Juda-Albany coach Bill Davis credited Ramos, the reigning Six Rivers East player of the year, for pitching ahead in the count.
"Now you've got to hit her pitches, and that's not an easy thing to do," he said.
Davis was equally pleased with the Panthers' offensive attack, which collected eight hits and had just one strikeout in the game. Ramos had three hits, including an RBI single in the first and a run-scoring double in the sixth, and junior Jessica Rackow had two singles.
Sophomore Tabatha Davis had an RBI single in the first, senior C.J. Dunwiddie doubled and junior Kirstie Kauk singled to account for the Panthers' other hits. Senior Courtney Moisan had an RBI on an infield groundout.
The top five batters in Juda-Albany's order scored runs.
"Our hitting is really coming around," Bill Davis said. "We put a lot of balls in play and obviously the conditions really aren't favorable.
"I thought with the people we had coming up, we could fill the voids (left by graduation losses) and we might even be a little stronger picking up the Albany girls. They are swinging a real good bat for us right now."
Scheuerell also was impressed with the way Juda-Albany, a first-year co-op program, jumped on his sophomore pitcher, Crystal Rote.
"They can really hit the ball pretty well," he said. "Today, even though the wind was blowing in, they put the bat on the ball and did a good job.
"And when we did hit the ball, they made some plays defensively."
One of the best defensive plays was by junior right fielder Carlie Peters, who fielded a sharply hit liner and fired a strike to Tabatha Davis at first base to rob the Broncos of a hit.
"We didn't have a lot of plays in the field, but I think we're right where we need to be right now," Bill Davis said.
The coach agreed with Ramos that beating Orangeville in dominating fashion is a good sign for the Panthers.
"They had a pretty good bunch of girls going through and they've still got a pretty good program over there," Davis said. "This was a real nice win."
In Scheuerell's opinion, this is the finest Panthers team his Broncos have faced.
"We play Juda every year and this seems like the most solid team they've put together," Scheuerell said. "I definitely see them doing some good things this year."
Juda-Albany produced plenty of good to go around Monday in defeating Orangeville 5-1 in a non-conference game at a blustery Juda Community Park.
Topping the list was senior pitcher Amber Ramos, who has picked up right where she left off in a stellar junior season. The right-hander allowed just two hits and recorded 18 strikeouts.
Ramos struck out the side in four of the seven innings while keeping the Broncos (11-6) completely off balance by throwing all four of her pitches - fastball, rise, changeup and drop - for strikes.
"Pretty much everything I threw was working pretty good," Ramos said.
The senior said she had "no idea" what her strikeout high is for a varsity game. But she was sure about one thing.
"We were talking before the game that (the Panthers' seniors) have never beaten Orangeville before," Ramos said. "We're really excited to beat them."
Juda-Albany coach Bill Davis credited Ramos, the reigning Six Rivers East player of the year, for pitching ahead in the count.
"Now you've got to hit her pitches, and that's not an easy thing to do," he said.
Davis was equally pleased with the Panthers' offensive attack, which collected eight hits and had just one strikeout in the game. Ramos had three hits, including an RBI single in the first and a run-scoring double in the sixth, and junior Jessica Rackow had two singles.
Sophomore Tabatha Davis had an RBI single in the first, senior C.J. Dunwiddie doubled and junior Kirstie Kauk singled to account for the Panthers' other hits. Senior Courtney Moisan had an RBI on an infield groundout.
The top five batters in Juda-Albany's order scored runs.
"Our hitting is really coming around," Bill Davis said. "We put a lot of balls in play and obviously the conditions really aren't favorable.
"I thought with the people we had coming up, we could fill the voids (left by graduation losses) and we might even be a little stronger picking up the Albany girls. They are swinging a real good bat for us right now."
Scheuerell also was impressed with the way Juda-Albany, a first-year co-op program, jumped on his sophomore pitcher, Crystal Rote.
"They can really hit the ball pretty well," he said. "Today, even though the wind was blowing in, they put the bat on the ball and did a good job.
"And when we did hit the ball, they made some plays defensively."
One of the best defensive plays was by junior right fielder Carlie Peters, who fielded a sharply hit liner and fired a strike to Tabatha Davis at first base to rob the Broncos of a hit.
"We didn't have a lot of plays in the field, but I think we're right where we need to be right now," Bill Davis said.
The coach agreed with Ramos that beating Orangeville in dominating fashion is a good sign for the Panthers.
"They had a pretty good bunch of girls going through and they've still got a pretty good program over there," Davis said. "This was a real nice win."
