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The TVS softball team had a tough
week against CCC opponents. Coach
Robinson lamented that the team was hitting well earlier “...and our defense was lacking. Now
everything has switched around. If we can get our bats to pick back up, I
think we could start making a lot of noise.” The team did earn wins against Mississinewa
Valley and Oakwood, but took their lumps along the way.
The first team up was Miami East where the team
played with the Vikings –they were only up 1-0 until the 6th
inning. But the team faltered late in
the game and gave up 4 runs in the 6th inning. The Panthers could not recover from this
deficit and would eventually lose 6-0.
They had their chance at a comeback in the 7th inning where
they loaded the bases, but couldn’t score anyone.
Covington has been playing great baseball this
season and seem poised to make another strong run in the state tournament.
South gave Covington all they had but it wasn’t enough as Covington would win
10-0. Still Coach Robinson found some
bright spots in the game, “If there's a positive I can take from this game,
it's that it took them until the 5th inning to run-rule us (10 runs).
I've been seeing some of their box scores against better teams than us, and
they've had that many runs in the first inning. So I give Hailee Bright
credit for being just a freshman, and going out on the mound and doing a pretty
good job. One other really bright spot on the night was the play of Lacey
Emrick behind the plate. She picked off 4 of their runners, either on a
straight steal or picking them off at the base they were at. Covington is
very aggressive on the base paths, and Lacey proved that she could keep up with
them.”
South Softball has had charity games in season’s
past and this season the theme was “Swing for the Swing” – to gather money for
a new handicap access slide at TVS. The
team was successful in raising over $800 for a good cause, but not so successful
on the field. Ali Robertson had a tough
outing and was finally pulled and freshman Hailee Bright took over. She slowed the onslaught but South had dug
too deep a hole and lost 9-1.
After the game coach Robinson commented, “Looking
back, I probably should have switched them out sooner. Hailee's pitching
speed is just slower enough, that it sometimes keeps good hitters off
balance. A slower pitcher is not necessarily a bad thing, especially when
she throws strikes like Hailee does. Honestly, we played a great
game. We had no errors and had 7 hits. We just couldn't seem to
drive home the base runners. We made good contact all night at the plate,
but National Trail kept coming up with great plays, defensively. They are
a far better team than their record indicates.”
South finally got rewarded for their efforts
with a win against Mississinewa Valley. But
they had to play from behind to get the win.
Spotting the Blackhawks a 3 run lead in the early going. But in the last
half of the game, South found their groove at the plate and caught up, then
passed the Blackhawks. Sophie Cottingim had a big triple to get South’s scoring
started. The Blackhawks attempted a rally late, but
South held the rally to just one run to shut them down for a 6-4 win. Lacy
Emerick came back to the game after missing the first portion of the game to
take over catching duties and she and Ali Robertson had to work out a critical
7th inning with runners in scoring position. The duo got the last outs of the night to
close the door on the Blackhawks.
Coach Robinson was elated with the victory, “This
was a pretty exciting game for us, and it was good to finally come away from
one with a win. This was the second game in a row that we played
errorless defense. Everyone seems to be stepping up at their position
right now. Our outfielders (Shelby Denlinger, Ashley Robertson, Hailee
Bright) are seeing a lot of action lately, so they're getting a lot more
confidence in their ability to go hard after a ball. We started the game
with back-up catcher, Kelsie Shafer, behind the plate. She did a great
job until Lacey Emrick was able to get to the game”
She continued, “I'm so happy for our entire
team with this victory, but especially for Ali. She pitched the best game
of her career on Tuesday, against Miami East, but couldn't come away with
a victory. Tonight, she stepped up huge in that last inning to help ensure the
win. I also give a lot of credit to our hitters tonight. I know they would have all liked to have swung the
bat more when they came to the plate, but they stayed focused and disciplined,
and stayed with our strategy for the game. All the girls have been
working so hard to get better in every area of the game; I'm just glad they
some of their hard work is beginning to pay off.”
South ended their busy week Saturday with a
game against Oakwood a member of the big school division of the SWBL. Coach Robinson admitted later that she was a
bit nervous going into the game – they had just won and seemed really pumped
up. But South seemed to have channeled the
1927 New York Yankee’s for at least one game as they erupted for 25 runs and
sent the Lumber Jills home early.
Freshman Kelsie Shafer almost hit for the cycle
with a double, triple, and home run. But
the home run was a grand slam! Ashley
Robertson had 4 RBI’s as did Sarah Bingham.
Ali Robertson was also the pitcher of record for the win.
Coach Robinson commented afterwards, “It was a
great game to get everyone on the team a lot of playing time. Ali and
Lacey did another great job, shutting down their offense. This was Ali's
first shutout of her career. Offensively, Kelsie Shafer had the hottest
bat. This was our third game in a row with no errors. Everyone,
both infield and outfield are really starting to click. Jayla Taylor has
been doing a great job at first base; Sophie Cottingim continues to play solid
at second; Sarah Bingham has made tremendous improvement at shortstop, and
Kelsie Shafer is starting to settle in as our third baseman when Ali is on the
mound.”
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