No Need to Call 5-O. But We Are 5-0. Webster 18, Parkway Central 3

It’s JV, so you never know, but, for better and worse, this is kind of the game I expected based on the direction the Colts’ program has been heading. I think their coach was hoping for rain, but without pitching he’s not going to be better later, so it’s probably just as well to get this one out of the way and move on. It is so tough if you don’t have even the semblance of a pitcher. I know, we’ve been there, especially the year Koach Kate led the JV in victories. Maybe he can schedule Nerinx or Affton.

However, we did clear the bench early and now all of our players have at least 3 plate appearances in our 5-0 start. While we haven’t exactly stolen anything (except bases, and that’s legal), the schedule kind of ramps up from here on out, with only a couple breaks that I can predict. (I’ve designated the September 12 game at Lutheran South as a non-starter start, so mark your calendars if you want.)

Tomorrow is against arch-rival Kirkwood, a program that has dramatically improved over the past three years with a new coaching staff. It’s an important conference game, besides the neighborhood rivalry, and Allyson Peters will start in the circle for us.

Speaking of circles, freshman Megan Hayes picked up her second win in this 3 inning game that we snuck in before the rain hit. Elise Keller and Julia Love led the offense with 6 RBI, but with plenty of help up and down the lineup as well as from the Colt pitcher. The girls did a good job of keeping high energy while working to respect the opponents and display good sportsmanship.

Thanks to Amy Jo Love for her pix, and our rookie shooter, Scott Hayes. I’ll have my camera tomorrow if someone wants to make sure we have pix for tomorrow’s tilt.

Hot Start. Webster 12, Summit 8

So this is what a game is supposed to look like. (More or less.) The Falcons of Summit came calling and gave us a battle before a 5-run bottom of the 6^th sealed the 12-8 victory for the Statesmen. Coach Wylie lauded the girls on their mental toughness, evidenced by the fact that we answered every Summit tally in this back and forth contest. Meanwhile, I was just thinking, “I’m glad we bat last.”

Josie Krueger battled the heat and humidity to toss all seven innings and pick up her second victory of the season, a win that featured 11 strikeouts against only 2 walks. There were lots of offensive highlights: Julia Love’s hustling double and two stolen bases, Zoe Schultz’s triple among her two hits, Megan Hayes two hits off the bench, and finally Elise Keller’s thunder and lightning show with her first homerun, driving in two teammates besides herself in the clinching 6^th inning 2-out rally and team-leading sixth stolen base.

If I were the Summit coach, I would point out that this is an add-on game and shouldn’t count in the conference scorebook. So, assuming we don’t get rained out or something, we’ll just have to beat the Falcons again when we visit them out in Fenton. I think we’re capable of playing even better than we did today, but I don’t expect them to stay at the same level, so we’ll need another strong effort in September. For now, however, we’ll enjoy our first (ever?) 4-0 start and get ready for our next two games, Wednesday at home against Parkway Central and Thursday at Kirkwood.

See you there. And enjoy Amy Jo’s pictures.

Knock Knock. Who's There? Statesmen Bats. Webster 14, Pattonville 3

The first “real’ game, our conference opener, was over almost before it started, as the Statesmen banged out 6 hits and forced 3 errors on other hard hit balls, scoring 9 runs in the first. We did at least get to play 5 innings (well, 4 ^1/2 actually) and apply the 10-run rule instead of the 15-run standard that marked our first 2 games. We also lowered our walks per game average from 15 to 10, as the Pirate pitcher had good control and threw strikes, which we hit, and hit, and hit.... The Pirates may have made almost as many errors as the Cardinals in a home game, but several of those were because we hit the ball so hard that they were overmatched.

Our third pitcher finished what she started as Allyson Peters continued the fine work in the circle. Zoe Schultz completed our first double play, Elise Keller banged out our first triple, and Guin Ellsworth drove in two more runs. That total was matched by Keller, Josie Krueger, and Jenna Hoffman who also added 2 hits to her career first from last game. The girls really distinguished themselves with outstanding base running, and not just our rabbits at the top and bottom of the order.

We’ll see how the season develops, and it’s too early to get overconfident, but there’s more than half a chance we’re going to be pretty good. As well as we played today, the team agreed we still have even more to offer. The spirit, work ethic, and desire to improve are all promising and I’m looking forward to seeing just how high our ceiling can be. I’m thinking those old houses down on the Lafayette Square house tour have nothing on us.

Keep track of our schedule which seems to be changing faster than a local channel weather forecast. So far we actually still have the same game schedule, just different opponents. Monday we will play our first of two games against Summit, Tuesday (9/6) we’ll replace the DuBourg Cavaliers with the Vikings of Parkway North (originally scheduled for Monday), and on Monday (9/12) travel to Lutheran South instead of Parkway West. 

As always, thanks to Amy Jo Love for the pictures. Kind of gives you a preview of what to look for in the photo books she and Stacey Greer are preparing.