Dodging Disaster: Webster 8, Hazelwood West 4

The young Statesmen prevailed in a game that seemed to be one play away from disaster all afternoon long. The Wildcats stranded 13 players on base over the course of 7 innings; that number is even more remarkable when you factor in the 3-up, 3-down 4^th inning. It seemed, at least to Coach Cerutti and me, like every inning, except the aforementioned 4^th, started with a runner on base. It may have seemed that way because, well, it was that way.

Despite falling behind 4-0 after an ugly first inning, our freshmen pitchers battled courageously, bending but never breaking. Allyson Peters notched her second win and Josie Krueger picked up the save, pitching two scoreless innings in a tight game.

On defense, Olivia Weik helped shut down one inning with a spectacular running catch of a sinking line drive, Zoe Schulz demonstrated her soft hands on infield pop-ups and Alina Castro closed out the 6^th with an unassisted double play.

Allyson Peters had the big hit, a 2-strike bases-loaded single to right that ended up plating three runs to tie the game; Emma Hintze then drove in the game winner with a line-drive up the middle to score CR Jenna Hoffman. We finally added some cushion in the bottom of the 6^th as Skyler Jones dropped down her second hit of the game to start the line moving.

One of the 5 areas the girls noted as goals for the year was perseverance, and we surely showed that characteristic. Looking to the future, Hazelwood has lost to Friday’s opponent, Francis Howell Central, and beaten our Monday, Sept. 14 conference foe, Ritenour. We don’t want to look too far ahead, and JV games are notoriously tough to predict in any case, so let’s just focus (an area of emphasis for this young team) on our next game against Cor Jesu at Affton Athletic tomorrow. I expect a tough, competitive game. We may be a little nerve-wracking (well, at least MY nerves), but we are entertaining. See you tomorrow.