Current Thinking for Lineup vs. Mehlville

We're away at Mehlville. NO guarantees, but this is what I'm thinking for tomorrow....

Francis Howell Tournament

The Francis Howell Tournament is a long drive for a long day of softball. But we get a chance to face teams we don't see during the regular season and generally play some pretty good competition. Thanks to the many parents who made the trek and cheered the team. One thing I've noticed over the years: Webster parents enjoy rooting for the girls and encouraging good play, certainly like winning games. Unlike parents from other places, however, it's the process and not the results that seem to matter most. I often get the feeling that the well-being of parents (and their kids) from other district hinges on the outcome of a JV softball game. Just sayin'....

In Game 1 we faced a strong squad from tournament host Francis Howell and suffered our first run-rule defeat of the season. Nevertheless, our girls earned praise from FHHS coaches and it took a walk-off bomb in the bottom of the 5th to finish us. Those girls could hit, and with the wind blowing out on a baseball diamond, let's just say we had ample opportunity to handle our cuts and relays. I was very pleased with how we handled that. Only triples and doubles, no homers or circling the bases on errors. They were just better than us, doubt that we'd beat them even once in a 10-game series. We did score 6 runs against good pitching, something the Vikings were apparently not used to have happening.

The second game pitted us against Fort Zumwalt South, a program seemingly on the decline. They were the power team when we first started going to this tournament. Our first year we lost to them in the finals, 7-2, in a game that wasn’t even as close as the score would indicate. However, they have become increasingly less competitive over the years, for whatever reason. We suffered a brief letdown as it was clear we were the better team and we lost a little concentration and played down to their level. We regrouped and put the game out of reach with a 12-run fifth inning that we had to end ourselves by having a runner leave the bag early. AnnaClaire Bryant did a nice job picking up her second win, with lots of offensive support up and down the line-up.

Often the final game in a tournament like this is the closest as the competition is leveled. Playing for fifth place against Fort Zumwalt North, we lost in a back and forth game as we ran out of gas on defense and made some costly errors. As noted above, I got the feeling that the FZ North parents needed this win more than ours did. The box score looks worse than it was, because going into the time-limit the score was only 10-9. Needing a quick inning, the Panthers tacked on three more to eat up the remaining time. Their coach became less upset about the time limit than she had been when she was trailing 9-7….

As always, enjoy the outstanding photos by the team photographer, Beth Kazlauskus. I saw other parents doing some shooting Saturday and I just wanted to let everyone know that Beth does not have the exclusive contract for pix, so feel free to share with me and I’ll post them, as well.

It IS a long day of softball and we’ll need to ramp up our ability to focus if we’re going to be successful next week at the Hancock Tournament at Affton. Team notes: Transportation to the tournament on your own. First game time, 8:30. Time limit: 1 hour, 20 minutes. Game 2: 10 a.m. Game 3: 11:30 a.m. Done by 1 p.m. The Lamprechts are graciously hosting an end-of-season BBQ and I look forward to seeing you and the players there.

Webster 16, Parkway North 3

Two years ago Parkway North jumped up and surprised us after years of not being particularly competitive. Last year their JV regressed as their varsity used some of their good players and we won, 13-3 in 5 innings. They weren't very good this year again, but except for some good defensive plays, I felt like the game could have spun out of control. We were up only 7-3 after four innings. We put 9 across in the 5th, much to the annoyance of the Viking coach, who accused us of running up the score when we were ahead 13-3 and stole a couple bases in first and third situations to provide some cushion for the 10-run rule.

He was in no mood to listen at the end of the game so I'm kind of stuck with a sour taste from what I consider unjust criticism born of his frustration. I've been on the other end, and pride myself on coaching good sportsmanship (n.b., Parkway West) but his team was certainly capable of scoring 4 runs to extend the game, it was only 7-3 when that inning started, and it's JV.... Okay, enough venting.

Outstanding work by AnnaClaire Bryant who had a good day in both the circle and batter's box. Nice defense on the left side and a solid job behind the plate by Maia Langdon. Congratulations to Wall:e (Erica Waelterman) who earned a permanent promotion to the varsity.

As always, thanks to Beth Kazlauskus for her great camera work. The JV will be well represented at the end of season banquet and slide show.

  

This one will bother me for a while: Hazelwood West 13, Webster 9

With apologies to Judith Viorst, we had one terrible, horrible, no good, very bad inning. Would we have won without that inning? I think it's at least possible. We had seized the momentum, had the Wildcats back on their heals and could have piled on. Instead, we let them up off the mat, and while we struggled to get back ahead, just couldn't do it. You can't give even bad teams 7 outs in an inning, and Hazelwood West was not a bad team, by any stretch.

The pity is, we made some nice plays, did some good base running, hit the ball pretty well, put pressure on the other team. It wasn't lack of effort, nor lack of spirit, just a lack of execution. That fact will have this result gnaw at me, but not forever, like that game against Ladue in 1994....     Oh, sorry, never mind.

We'll try to bounce back away against Parkway North tomorrow and get some momentum going into the Francis Howell Tournament on Saturday. Check the site either tomorrow night or, more likely, Friday morning, for the projected starting lineups. Each girl is guaranteed to start at least one game and I'll try to let you know when your daughter will be playing. The girls do appreciate those parents who come out and cheer on all the girls, even when their daughters aren't on the field. I appreciate the strong parent support you've given the team, game after game.

Small Steps: Seckman 11, Webster 0

Our history against the Seckman Jaguars JV has not been marked by success. They have beaten us like the proverbial red-headed stepchild. In fact, my personal record was 0-6 since 2007, with a cumulative score of 108-19. For those who don't want to do the math, that's an average losing score of 18-3. It's now 0-7 (and would probably be 0-16 if we played them ten times this year). This was a very good team that made no errors and showed excellent outfield play that snuffed out our limited chances with strong throws. 

Nevertheless I am pleased with our showing against a team that had run-ruled almost every previous opponent. We played all 7 innings against them, which speaks well for our team and promises some more good games as we take on good teams as the season rushes to a close.

Bekah Perman led the offense with a 3-for-3 day, all solid singles and Paton Lamprecht had what may have been the best game by a JV shortstop in my career here at Webster; if there was a better one, I can't remember it, but then my memory isn't what it used to be. It has company. But I digress. 

It was a game that really wasn't in doubt after the middle of the game, but a game that showed the progress of the program and the spirit of the girls as they kept cheering their teammates until the last out was made. Proud of them.

Probable Line-up for Seckman, Tuesday 9/24

Illness and injury have forced some changes in the probably starting line-up for tomorrow's tough conference game at home against Seckman. For whatever reason, we have not matched up well with the Jaguars over the years, having been "mercy-ruled" each of the last three years. But it's JV, so you never know; think of Parkway West. In any case, based on availability for today's practice, this is what we're looking at to start tomorrow:

Tournament Update for NEXT weekend, 9/28

Good news, Bad?? news....

The start time for the Francis Howell Tournament has been pushed back 2 hours. The first game will be at 11 a.m. Not sure everyone will actually think this is bad news, but we probably won't be home until close to 6 p.m. Fortunately, the Jazz Festival is this weekend.

The good news is that the tournament will be at the Ozzie Smith Academy, so finding our field will be significantly less problematical for our bus and parents.

A Laugher: Webster 22, Parkway West 2

But it was really more of a metaphorical laughter, as the JV girls exemplified our mantra, "Win with class, lose with class." More than their performance, Coach Poe and I were proudest of the respect our team showed their overmatched opponents and the game. The played hard, they played with hustle, but they never showed any disrespect. In any case, we evened our season record at 6-6. (Our parents, too, deserve kudos as they represented our community in the same manner that the girls represented their school.)

We face a tougher foe tomorrow as we travel to Festus, whose varsity team is highly rated. What that means for the JV remains to be seen, but we'll be missing Kate and Erica who have earned a trip to the Liberty Tournament with the varsity in Kansas City. Fortunately, we have grown enough in our skills that, while we'll miss them, we still will be at least competitive and a worthy opponent for almost anyone. I'm still tinkering with the line-up, but my current thinking is below the box score. Like today's previously posted line-up, this one is subject to change, as well.