"Skeeter"
After a long conditioning and developmental period, including the addition of a third pitch, Talons rookie Jodie Hanna has finally taken the mound and thrown her first pro innings.
Jodie's first official appearance came in the bottom of the ninth against Denison on August 8th. She entered with a runner on first and immediately induced a soft fielder's choice grounder off the bat of George McCoy, then induced a hard hit double play ball to end the inning, and the game, after 6 pitches. Despite being in front of an away crowd, Hanna was politely applauded as she celebrated the win with her teammates, her smile brighter than ever.
Two nights later, Hanna pitched in the bottom of the ninth again, this time with two runners on and facing McCoy once again. Unfortunately, McCoy hit an infield bouncer that was slightly misplayed by the Talons defense, but nonetheless ruled a single to load the bases. She was immediately pulled, and though the subsequent Talon pitchers allowed two runs to score, McCoy was stranded to end the game in another Talons win.
Finally, Hanna was able to make her home debut on August 14th in front of a sellout crowd of nearly 10,000 fans. Once again, she got the call in the ninth inning with a runner on base. A sharp single puts two runners on, then a double play groundout sends her inherited runner to third. The very next pitch is a line drive to right that scores the runner, but Hanna gets the next batter on a soft fly to right, preserving the win.
It remains to be seen how or even if Skeeter will be used in the Spike Nolan League playoffs, but at least she has taken her first small steps toward her hope of a history making BBA debut someday.
Go Talons!
