Beaver pitcher Payton List was rather succinct when she summed up her performance earlier this week in the opening round of the state playoffs against District 3 third-place finisher Fleetwood.
“I pitched like crap. Let’s be honest,” List said. “I gave up too many hits and left too many things over the plate.”
Unsatisfied as she was, the Virginia Tech recruit spent the next two days working on the finer points for her game.
List struck out a career-high 20, allowed one hit, homered, walked three times and scored all three of Beaver’s runs in a 3-0 victory over Burrell in the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals Thursday at Mars.
Beaver (21-0) ran its winning streak to 42 games.
“My dad stayed home from work and worked from home, and I was doing snaps and stuff in the yard with him,” List said. “Putting in that little bit of work helped me.”
List recorded her first 15 outs via strikeout. The only Burrell hitter who made an out that wasn’t a strikeout was catcher Bella Stewart, who grounded out to shortstop Hanna Crowe to lead off the sixth.
“I’ve said this all last year, and I’ll say it again: She just gets better every game she plays,” Beaver coach Amy Haggart said. “As long as she stays focused and it’s just her, she’s fine.”
What may have been most uncharacteristic for List was that she walked five batters, three of them on full counts. She came into the game with only 30 walks all season.
Aside from that, about the only miscue List made was in the top of the seventh when, after reaching base via an intentional walk, the umpire called her out for for leaving the base early.
“I don’t think she left early,” Haggart said, laughing. “I don’t think she did.”
Katie Armstrong, who started for Burrell (14-3) nearly matched her pitch for pitch. The junior struck out 15, walked four — two of them intentional walks to List — and recorded 11 of the first 12 outs via strikeout.
“I pitched and I relied on my defense behind me, and we were getting people on base,” Armstrong said. “We just kept hanging them out there.”
Though Burrell put six runners on base — the five walks and an infield single by Alanna Miller in the second — the Buccaneers failed to advance any of them past second. Each time they threatened, List reared back and fanned her way out of the jam.
List struck out the final two batters with runners at first and second with one out in the second and third innings and got the final out after a two-out wild pitch put Miller in scoring position in the fourth.
Despite List’s dominance on the mound, what she did at the plate might have made the biggest impact on the game.
She opened with a leadoff walk, went to second on a Samantha Springman single, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored the game’s first run on a single by Crowe.
“I had a little bit of confidence after we got that one run, but one [isn’t] enough sometimes,” Haggart said. “We had to continue to do it at the plate.”
List added some insurance herself in the top of the third when she rifled the first offering from Armstrong over the fence in straightaway center for her 11th homer of the season. She scored the final run on a wild pitch after being intentionally walked to open the fifth.
Armstrong had only given up two earned runs all season, but List scored three herself.
“Payton is a great athlete, and I knew she would probably be the toughest batter I’d have to face,” Armstrong said. “She’s aggressive. She’s a good baserunner, and I know she has a good eye, a good swing, and she’s very good at what she does.”
First Published: June 9, 2022, 11:24 p.m.