The Silverdale Lady Seahawk softball team was on spring break last week and didn’t have any games or practices. Head coach Jackie Freeland expressed concern over that fact before Monday’s game with visiting GPS began.
It wasn’t the cleanest game of the year as these two teams combined to make nine errors, but Freeland couldn’t complain about her offense as every starter got at least one hit and her team scored at least two runs in four of the five innings played as the Lady Seahawks improved to 10-6 with the 11-3 victory in a game that was called with one out in the bottom of the fifth after Silverdale increased its lead to eight runs.
“That was a nice comeback by our team as GPS had beaten us in the first game of the season,” Freeland began after the contest ended.
“We were focused on playing better than we did the first time and we were able to do that, but we were still a little rusty at the start. We gave up those two runs in the first and didn’t waste any time responding and I was glad about that.
“We never gave up as we hit the ball well and continued to put it in play. It seems like good things always happen when we put the ball in play. I thought that Katie Willoughby pitched a good game. We were a little rusty when the game began, but we were able to get it together after the first inning,” Freeland added.
GPS coach Martha Hanzelik wasn’t the happiest person around when the game ended, but she’s confident that better days are ahead for her young team.
“Thank goodness this is not a region game,” Hanzelik said after a short meeting with her team.
“Silverdale played like they wanted to win and we didn’t. We can hit and we can certainly play better defense than we did, but we’re a better softball team than what we showed today. I had hoped for a better showing than that, but we still have a lot of stuff to work on,” she added.
Chapel Cunningham led off the game by reaching on a Silverdale error and later scored the first run following a stolen base and two wild pitches. Ansley Blevins walked with one out and scored on a single by Bella Jenkins as GPS took a 2-0 lead in its first at-bat.
Silverdale wasted no time in bouncing back as eight hitters came to the plate while the Lady Seahawks took the lead with three runs.
Kennedy Stinson ripped a double down the line in left to lead off and scored on the first of three singles by Emry Masterson. Bentley Stiner reached on a two-out error by the Bruisers as Masterson scored while winning pitcher Katie Willoughby plated Stiner with a single to right.
The Bruisers knotted the score at 3-3 with a single run in the second as Emma Leinberger walked with one out and scored on a single by McKamey Bratcher.
Silverdale then sent eight more hitters to the plate in the second to take a 7-3 lead on the strength of four hits and another GPS miscue.
Masterson, Stiner and McCade Cooper all had run-scoring singles while Bre Sexton drove in the fourth run with a sacrifice fly to left.
Freshman catcher Gabbie Hensley, the only Silverdale player other than Masterson to have more than one hit, led off the third with her first single and courtesy runner Ryan Butterworth scored on a sacrifice fly by Stinson after Eddie Keef reached on another GPS error. Masterson’s second hit drove in the final run of the inning.
Ansley Griffin reached on an infield single for the Bruisers in the third, but that was the last hit for GPS allowed by Willoughby as the only two remaining base runners for GPS both reached on errors.
Willoughby was the winning pitcher after allowing all three runs on three hits while striking out six and walking three. Southpaw Mikayla Beard was the loser after allowing nine runs on 10 hits in three innings.
While Masterson led the way at the plate for Silverdale with three hits and Hensley with two, every other starter for the Lady Seahawks had at least one hit.
Bratcher, Jenkins and Griffin all had one hit for GPS.
The Bruisers return to action on Tuesday when they host Knoxville Catholic while Silverdale will host Notre Dame on Tuesday before a big game at Baylor on Thursday.
GPS 210 00 – 3 3 5
SILVERDALE 342 02 – 11 12 4
Beard, Griffin (4) and Blevins; Willoughby and Hensley.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)