There’s nothing quite as rewarding for a high school coach than to see their team bounce back from a tough loss.
That was the case for the GPS softball team at Hixson Thursday afternoon. Just two days ago, the Bruisers only had two hits against arch-rival Baylor and the two runs they scored were unearned. In a nutshell, their performance against the Lady Red Raiders left a lot to be desired and a bitter taste in coach London Cornelius’ mouth.
She said that her team endured a really hard practice on Wednesday. Without question, there were probably a few choice words spoken along the way, but whatever the case, the Bruisers came out ready to play on Thursday. Scoring three runs in each of the first two innings, it was a totally different performance and so were the results as the Bruisers improved to 16-6 with the 9-5 win.
And coach Cornelius was much happier than she was on Tuesday.
“I thought we were aggressive running the bases and we hit it well. We just executed across the board and bounced back,” she began after Thursday’s game ended.
“We had a tough practice on Wednesday. As I’ve said all along,, these young ladies are full of potential. It’s just a matter of putting it all together. They wanted to prove to me and also themselves that they could win. It’s been a real growing process this spring, but we’re getting there and I’m hoping that we peak at just the right time,” she added.
Hixson coach Ricky Ritchie had a similar meeting with his team on Wednesday after losing on Tuesday a game they might should have won. The Lady Wildcats didn’t get a turnaround win, but things were a bit different and Ritchie was happy with the change in attitude.
“I thought we played pretty well for the most part as they did what I asked,” Ritchie began afterward.
“I’m never pleased when we lose, but we had a real heart-to-heart meeting yesterday and I was just trying to get a positive response from them today. We put some players at new positions. I liked our effort. At least we were moving our feet today,” he nodded.
Three of the first four GPS hitters reached base in their first time up and they eventually scored three runs.
Jayla Gladden reached on a Hixson error before Adrianna Reyes reached on a passed ball following a third strike. Gladden then scored the first run on another passed ball. Addison Smith then singled before Bailey Long flied to center to plate Reyes with the second run. Ansley Bratcher’s double then plated Smith with the third.
Hixson responded with two runs in the bottom of the first. Brantley Bruggink reached on a GPS throwing error and Chloe Turner walked. Lexi Turner then grounded to short, but everyone was safe when Bruggink beat the throw to third. Makayla Long when made it 3-2 with a two-run single to right.
The Bruisers had another positive at-bat in the second when they sent seven hitters to the plate and scored three more runs. Aaidan Lawrence drove in the first run with a double before Calieah Reyes drove in another with a triple. Smith then drove in the third with a double for a 6-2 GPS lead.
Hixson rallied with three runs in the third on a three-run double by Sara Martin to make it 6-5, but it never got any closer as GPS added single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
Lawrence led off the fourth with a triple and scored on a single by Adrianna Reyes. Then in the sixth, Reyes drove in Gladden with a liner to center after the GPS had singled to lead off and stolen two bases. Bratcher had her second double of the game leading off the seventh and later scored on a Hixson error.
Smith was the hero for the Bruisers as she allowed one hit and two runs in two innings pitching. She also had two walks and five strikeouts. The talented freshman also finished the day with four hits.
Bratcher, Hicks and Lawrence also had two hits apiece for the Bruisers.
Addison Jones came in to relieve Smith and allowed three runs on five hits in five innings.
Lexie Turner took the loss for Hixson after giving up those six runs in the first two innings on six hits. Connie Schalk pitched the final five frames.
The Bruisers will now have the Easter weekend off before a key game at home on Tuesday against Chattanooga Christian. Hixson returns to action Friday morning with a 9 a.m. date against Cleveland in the Choo Choo Classic that’s being played at East Hamilton. They play a second game Friday afternoon against East Hamilton.
GPS 330 101 1 – 9 14 2
HIXSON 203 000 0 – 5 6 2
Smith, Jones (3) and Long; L. Turner, Schalk (3) and C. Turner.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)