After dealing with days of rain, the Lady Yellow Jackets navigated through the mud to a 4-1 victory over East Hardy in the Hardy County Softball Showdown on Thursday night at Sager Field.
“Hanna [Carlson] did an awesome job pitching. We need to score a lot more than three runs in the first inning. We played pretty solid defense and every game we’ve concentrated on making little things better. Hopefully we’ll continue to do that throughout the season,” Moorefield Coach Tammie Ayers remarked.
Moorefield pitcher Hanna Carlson opened the game by forcing a pop-up off the bat of East Hardy’s Lexi Strawderman and third baseman Macie Zirk made the catch near the dugout.
East Hardy’s Julia Hahn notched a single directed over to shortstop Rebekah Markwood and advanced on a high errant pickoff throw by catcher Alyson Simmons.
Moorefield first baseman Alyssa Vetter caught a pop-up by East Hardy’s Skye Metzer as Hahn remained at second base.
Lady Cougars batter Brooke Miller ripped an RBI double into left center field for a 1-nil edge and was stranded on a pop-up hit by Leanna Basye.
East Hardy pitcher Emma Baker nearly had an out recorded on a diving play by catcher Skye Metzer, but the ball was just out of reach off the bat of Moorefield leadoff batter Rebekah Markwood.
Markwood took a full-count pitch and lifted the ball into center field where it was caught by Lexi Strawderman.
“Our defense was pretty solid today. There were a few little hiccups here and there, but nothing that cost us too much. Our defense did really well,” East Hardy Coach Ashley Taylor commented.
“Emma Baker did an awesome job in the circle. She never gave up on any batter she faced and only walked two of them which is pretty big. They [MHS] hit when they needed to and we weren’t making solid contact when we needed to and were leaving base runners on. We just need to pickup our offense and I think things will start coming together for us.”
A single by Emma Baker into center field gave the Lady Yellow Jackets a base runner.
Moorefield’s Remington Hinkle garnered an RBI double tying the game as the ball landed near left field fence.
Anna Riggleman knocked a double into the left center field gap as the Lady Yellow put the lead changing runners in position.
Moorefield’s Tori Humphries sliced a two-run producing single into left field for a 3-1 advantage.
Vetter and Carlson flew out to retire the side.
In the second inning, Carlson put the Lady Cougars down in order by sandwiching two strikeouts to Baker and Rebecca Whetzel around a Jessica Smith fly ball to right field caught by Makaleigh Snyder.
“We’re working really hard hitting our spots and she gets better every game. She did much better and I am really proud of her maturity, because she is finally starting to see that hitting those spots can really set down a batter,” Coach Ayers noted.
[private]
Moorefield didn’t get on base in the bottom half of the frame either as Zirk popped out to Miller at first base, Snyder struck out and Markwood flew out to Smith in right field.
The Lady Yellow Jackets still held a 3-1 lead entering the third inning.
East Hardy’s Madison Strawderman grounded out to Baker with the throw to Vetter.
Lexi Strawderman reached on an error as the hit over to Zirk was collected and the pass went awry on a stretch into full splits by Vetter gave an opportunity for an extra base for the Lady Cougars.
Strawderman was stranded on the base path as Hahn flew out to Hinkle in left field and Metzer popped out to Baker chasing the ball toward the circle.
Baker was issued a leadoff walk by Baker as the Lady Yellow Jackets were on board.
Hinkle popped out to Madison Strawderman in shallow right field as Baker remained at first base.
East Hardy catcher Skye Metzer caught Baker stealing with a throw to Hahn, then Riggleman popped out to Hahn end the inning.
The fourth inning was quick for both teams without base runners as East Hardy’s Miller and Basye grounded out to Markwood and Baker popped out to Baker, then Moorefield’s Humphries grounded out to Miller and Vetter grounded out to Hahn before Carlson popped out to Hahn chasing the ball.
Smith started the fifth inning with a single for East Hardy over to Zirk and beat the throw to Vetter at first base.
After a flyout by Whetzel to Riggleman in center field, Madison Strawderman singled up the middle for the Lady Cougars.
On a foul ball hit by Lexi Strawderman hit toward the rolled up tarp by the left field fence, Markwood dashed over and made a diving attempt and landed in the mud without the ball.
Markwood stood up covered in mud with look of bewilderment with a wry smile and there was a timeout as coaches brought towels out to try to get rid of some of the mess.
This was good comic relief as Markwood laughed off the ordeal, then as play resumed Strawderman grounded out to Markwood and the mud didn’t affect the throw to Vetter.
The Lady Cougars had two runners in scoring position, but Hahn grounded out to Vetter at first base.
During Moorefield’s turn at-bat, Zirk zipped the ball toward third base where it ricocheted off the glove of Basye making a dive and Carmen Ketterman came in as the courtesy runner.
Snyder hit into a fielder’s choice on the heels of an error as Basye dove for the ball, but it bounced away with Hahn making the recovery with a late throw to Strawderman as Ketterman arrived before the tag.
Markwood and Baker both bunted into fielder’s choice outs at third base, then the runners were stranded on a flyout by Hinkle which was caught by Lexi Strawderman during a collision.
Moving to the sixth inning, Miller garnered a double with one out (Metzer PO) for the Lady Cougars.
Miller wasn’t brought home as Carlson pitched a strikeout to Basye and forced a groundout by Baker collected by Markwood.
Moorefield started the bottom of the sixth inning with a flyout from Riggleman to left field caught by Smith.
Humphries stepped up and launched the ball into right field for a single with East Hardy’s Emily Yates missing the ball on a diving catch attempt.
Vetter hit into a fielder’s choice, then Carlson reached base on an error as the ball took a wicked hop past the glove of Miller into right field.
Zirk hit a hard grounder toward third base for an RBI single with Basye making a diving save, but no play on the throw to first base as Moorefield put runners on the corners with a 4-1 lead.
Baker issued a walk to Snyder which loaded the bases for the Lady Yellow Jackets, then jammed Markwood for a pop out to escape further damage.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Lady Cougars had one last chance at a rally as Smith reached on an error with the ball ricocheting off the glove of Baker.
Whetzel popped out to Markwood leaving Smith at first base, then Madison Strawderman hit a fly ball into right field which was snatched by Snyder and Smith made a dive back to first base just in time.
Moorefield sealed the victory as Carlson jammed Lexi Strawderman into a pop-up caught by Zirk at third base for the final out.
One of the rewards for winning was the task of pulling the muddy tarp back out on the field after the game, continuing the mission of playing in the dirt.
“Emma Baker had a couple good stops at second base, Alyssa Vetter had an awesome split at first and Makaleigh Snyder had a good catch in the outfield. We had a couple times where I wanted them to bunt and the sacrifice bunts didn’t come through. We have to work on that and I am still proud of the girls. We had indoor practice because of the rain and focused on line drives off the tee and that proved successful,” Coach Ayers concluded.
The Lady Yellow Jackets (4-1) started April hosting Allegany on Monday, visited Strasburg on Tuesday and greet Fort Hill tonight with a trip to Mountain Ridge, Md. on Saturday.
East Hardy (0-3) visited Petersburg on Monday, traveled to Hedgesville on Tuesday, go to Martinsburg on Thursday and conclude the road trip on Friday against Central in Woodstock, Va.
[/private]
