Hampshire’s Julissa Akins keeps her cool, but this had nothing to do with the temperatures in the low 40s, steadily dropping Tuesday as the so-called spring afternoon wore on.
Shiver me timbers?
No, these were tense, game-on-the-line conditions unfolding in the seventh inning of a Fox Valley Conference opener that Akins, a junior right-hander, was pitching for the Whip-Purs.
With a four-run lead sliced to two with two outs, a runner on and the tying run stepping to the plate, Akins was trying to finish out her start in her team’s first game in 13 days due to weather delays.
“Honestly, I just try to stay calm,” Akins said. “I take a lot of deep breaths. I’ve been in worse situations pitching, so I’ve learned how to control myself and handle my emotions.
“No matter even if I were to make an error or my team was, I know how to control myself and stay locked in.”
Facing a hitter who had a double in three previous at bats, Akins did just that by getting a strikeout to close out a 6-4 victory against visiting Jacobs
Alkins also led the offense for Hampshire (2-2, 1-0), driving a two-run triple to right field in the first inning and then laying down a successful suicide squeeze bunt in the fifth for her third RBI.
“I saw it coming and, luckily, hit it way back,” Akins said of the triple. “Then I was just trying to take off as fast as I could.”
Freshman right fielder Taliya Garcia recorded two hits to lead Jacobs (6-5, 0-1).
The Golden Eagles got an RBI double from freshman pinch-hitter Mya Garcia. Sophomore left fielder Skylee Ferrante, junior shortstop Talia DiSilvio and senior first baseman Molly Hoch added RBI singles.
Sophomore right fielder Rebecca Coffey, who will likely split starting pitching duties this season with Akins, chalked up a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth as the difference-maker for Hampshire. Coffey also threw out a runner at third base in the seventh.
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Hampshire coach Jeremy Bauer was comfortable sticking at the end with Akins, who had a full varsity season as a sophomore after a late-season call up her freshman year.
“She pitched like half our games last year and she’s really come a long ways,” Bauer said. “We like how she keeps the pace of play going.
“She doesn’t think about what happened on the last pitch. It’s always the next pitch. She’s got a great mentality out there.”
Akins, who struck out six and scattered eight hits and two walks, earned 10 of her team’s 23 wins last season. It carried over to Tuesday.
“The drop curve was amazing and my change was pretty good, too,” Akins said.
Senior catcher Mariah Becerra pointed out that Akins also has a screwball and fastball. Akins has been working on developing a rise for her repertoire.
“We’ve been playing together since we were like 7,” Becerra said. “I don’t worry about her in pressure situations. Sometimes she has to slow it down, she’ll get a little too hyped up.
“In a tight count I’ll just say, ‘We’ve got to hit our spot.’ And she does. I don’t have to worry about her hitting her spot.”
Hampshire lost seven seniors to graduation. With only four seniors on the roster this season, Becerra believes that a lot of newcomers will have an opportunity to step up.
If anyone can get on the field that is.
“We started the season a week earlier but we’ve had mostly five weeks of gym practice,” Bauer said, explaining his call for Akins on the squeeze bunt. “We’re only in Game 4. I like to see how people respond and if they can do things like that later on when it’s really important.
“She’s a good bunter. I was convinced she could get it down.”