Central’s Lady Purple Pounders are a work in progress concerning their softball team, but they’re headed in the right direction as they bring a lot of energy and emotion to the field and seem to have a lot of fun in the process.
Needing just over an hour to win a game at home on Friday afternoon, the gals in purple improved to 6-1 with a four-inning 10-0 victory over the Chattanooga School For Arts & Sciences.
Jon Massey has been Central’s coach for the last couple of years and they keep improving as they are using a lot of natural talent and some of Massey’s experience from years on the job to get better.
“We didn’t hit too many balls hard, but we dropped a few bloops here and there and were able to score some runs as a result,” he said following Friday’s game.
“The good news is that Kierston (Williams) threw strikes and we have a team that can make things happen when we have runners on base. We’re blessed to have two girls at the top of our lineup with exceptional speed (Amiyah Williams and Kennedi Sabb), so we will take advantage of that every chance we get.
“We aren’t where we need to be just yet as it’s still March, but we have some kids with good softball mentality and they continue to get better every day,” he added, knowing that next week will be super busy as his team has potentially seven games on the schedule.
The Lady Patriots are at the opposite end of the spectrum, but coach Michelle Meyners is just trying to be patient as things slowly improve.
“We’re really young and have some girls who have never played softball before. It seems like one error mushrooms into others, but I’m hoping we’ll be better as we get more experience,” she began after her team’s record dropped to 1-2 for the season.
“We tried and it wasn’t a lack of effort, but we just need to start swinging the bats with a bit more confidence. But it’s still early and I’m confident we’ll be much improved before the season ends,” she added.
Williams was the beneficiary of the Central bats that scored at least two runs in three of the four innings played. She also did her part by striking out eight and walking just one while allowing only one hit, a single to Savannah Bennett in the first.
As it turned out, the first inning was the best opportunity for the Lady Patriots to score as Kindall Gruzinski walked with one out before Bennett lined a single to right. But nobody scored as Williams left them both stranded with her third strikeout of the inning.
Meanwhile, the Lady Pounders didn’t waste any time taking charge as they scored five runs in the first inning as they batted around.
Amiyah Williams and Kennedi Sabb both reached with bunt singles with Williams later scoring the first run on a wild pitch. Emma Ladd walked before Chelsea Parris drove in the second run with a single.
Neveah Frank then had the big hit with a two-run double to left.
Amiyah Williams reached on an error to lead off the Central second and later scored on a wild pitch while Paris had her second hit of the day and scored on another Lady Patriot miscue.
Nobody scored in the third, but Central ended the game with three runs in the fourth, starting with Amiyah Williams single. Sabb reached on another error and both scored on yet another CSAS miscue.
Ladd had a double with nobody out before Paris picked up her third hit of the game. Frank then grounded to third for the first out, but Ladd raced home with the 10th run that ended the game.
While Kierston Williams was the winning pitcher with her one-hit effort, Bennett was the loser after allowing all 10 runs on nine hits. She also had one walk and four strikeouts, but was hindered by her teammates making six errors.
ARTS & SCIENCES 000 0 – 0 1 6
CENTRAL 520 3 – 10 9 0
Bennett and Minton; Williams and Ladd.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)