Shammo WOW! Bedford senior hits record, leads sweep of Monroe

Sydney Shammo called her shot.

The Bedford senior stepped out of the batter's box with two strikes and took a few practice swings before turning to her teammate in the on-deck circle.

"I'm going to hit a home run," she predicted.

Shammo is a crafty leadoff hitter. She is batting .636 this season and owns an impressive list of school records for both the season and her career. But she came into the game with just one home run.

She still only has one.

Shammo didn't crush the home run she was looking for, but she did take the next pitch she saw deep to the wall in right field for an RBI triple.

And her hitting was contagious.

Bedford strung together four straight extra-base hits – all with two outs in the sixth inning – that lifted the Mules to a 7-3 victory in the first game of a doubleheader against Monroe. Bedford completed the sweep in game two, winning 7-4.

It was one of four hits on the day for Shammo, who became Bedford's all-time career leader in hits with 169 hits. She's also the team's single-season record holder in stolen bases, walks and runs, and the career record holder in stolen bases.

"She's undoubtedly our leader of the team," Bedford coach Marla Gooding said. "She is incredibly valuable in the leadoff spot and provides such a spark for us. she's really become a student of the game and is sharing what she sees with her teammates. She's the perfect leadoff."

Shammo's long-ball prediction was a few feet short, but it was better than the alternative. The previous pitch before her triple likely should've been her third strike and the final out of the inning. But the catcher could not field the pitch cleanly and Shammo said the umpire missed the call.

"If I'm being honest, I saw her drop that ball behind there that I obviously should've been out on. I knew that was my opportunity to make that count," she said. "I knew that was a big moment in the game. I just wanted to help my team."

Shammo's hit drove in Sydney Delagrang, who had doubled with two outs in the previous at-bat. Payton Pudlowski followed with a triple to drive home Shammo and Nyah Mullins then doubled for another run.

The string of hits stretched a one-run Bedford lead to 6-2.

"We never really come out strong," Shammo admitted. "It takes us a couple times through the lineup, but once we did that, we were all hitting really well toward the end."

Bedford collected 14 hits in the first game. Mullins was 4-for-4 with three RBI, Shammo had three hits, two runs scored and an RBI, and Pudlowski and Maddie Henegar added two hits and an RBI each. Henegar also was the winning pitcher, allowing one earned run on six hits and two walks over seven innings with three strikeouts.

"We're starting to play some tougher teams and the girls are making adjustments and playing aggressive. We're coming along and hopefully we peak at the right time," Gooding said. "Today was a little bit tougher. ... We're running thin today, but the girls stepped up. Two of our big bats are out of the lineup, but I was very impressed with the bottom of our lineup finding ways to get on."

The hitting continued into Game two as Mullins gave Bedford an early lead with an RBI single in the first inning. Makayla Johnson added an RBI hit in the second to make it 2-2 after Monroe scored twice in the bottom of the first.

The Mules again did most of their damage late, scoring three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to pull away.

Mullins was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs and Pudlowski added three hits and two runs. Henegar again earned the win, working around eight hits and six walks to hold Monroe to three earned runs.

"Maddie pitched well," Gooding said. "She was a workhorse today. She gutted it out. They saw her probably eight times or more through the lineup, but she still found ways to get it done. She helped get the defense out of big jams when they were having errors."

Bedford improved to 21-6 overall this season, but these two wins were extra sweet against the rival Trojans.

"My freshman year, we lost to Monroe and then won the second game, and I remember our seniors were crying because that was the first time they had ever beaten Monroe," Shammo said. "It's obviously a big rivalry and it feels really good to win. This was our first sweep of them, so it feels really good."

Monroe played well in both games despite fading in the late innings.

The Trojans had six hits in the opener and eight more in the nightcap. Monroe also held the lead in both games, taking a 2-1 lead through the first four innings in the opener and a 3-2 lead after four innings in game two.

"We played right with them both games," Monroe coach Jim Davis said. "We led a good portion of the way. We made a lot of plays, we hustled, we played hard, our pitching was good enough for us to win. But we made some mistakes in timely situations and we didn't get that big hit we needed."

Monroe left runners on base in all but one inning in the second game. The Trojans loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but could not push across any runs.

"The fact that we're staying competitive, grinding it out and not giving up has been big for us. If a couple more of those hits fall in along the way, it's a different story," Davis said. "It's hard to work on that other than being in that situation more, but we've been a lot more competitive over the last couple weeks and we've been getting better."

Jenna Ruettinger had a double among her three hits on the day to lead Monroe. Alana Aulph had two hits with a triple, Avery Collett doubled twice, and Brynn Reece and Maci Willey also had a pair of hits.

Monroe fell to 6-12 overall.

"I would've liked to see a little more fire out of us today, but, at the same time, we played hard," Davis said. "We had a lot of opportunities, which meant we were putting ourselves in good positions. We just have to find a way to come through more often."

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Shammo WOW! Bedford senior hits record, leads sweep of Monroe