Late Game Stampede: Marquette 13, Webster 8

You might think that this was a heart-breaking loss. You’d be wrong.

It was disappointing, for sure, to lose an 8-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning. We had outplayed and outpitched the Marquette Mustangs up to that point. I’m going to take the blame here for having a plan and then not following through. Giving a team as good as Marquette three shots at the same pitcher is just asking for trouble, and it found us. Had I made the pitching change like I planned, well, who knows.

But Allyson Peters was pitching well, and, in fact, struck out the first batter but she reached on a passed ball. We recorded another out (would have been our second), but we just couldn’t get the third to stop the bleeding. Marquette tacked on three more in the sixth, so maybe that plan wouldn’t have worked, but we’ll never know.

Still, you’d have been proud, if you were there, and as I was, to see how we tried to come back, kept our energy and enthusiasm up until we used up our last out on a deep line out hot of our own on a fine running catch by a galloping Mustang. So we’re ready for the tournament tomorrow and are looking forward to defending our title.

I need to prepare our lineups (even though it’s a “bat the line-up” tournament, there is still some thought required), so I’ll wait until later to add the pictures. See you at Affton, 7:15, Field 3.

Making Mush of the Huskies: Webster 16, Ritenour 0

Ritenour’s program has struggled lately, although they’ve been good in the past. In fact, it took us several years to notch a win against the Huskies, although I always felt like those losses were games that got away. Despite being overmatched, Ritenour’s girls showed spirit and class in our game. Today the varsity needed three of our leaders and so we traveled short-handed north to the Rock (Road).

The beauty of this team is that all the girls have worked to improve their skills and knowledge of the game and all have achieved success. Today several had the opportunity to demonstrate their growth and they did themselves proud. We played crisp, hustling softball and took good at bats up and down the line-up, making adjustments and hitting numerous balls hard, some of which became unlucky outs, but the coaching staff had always stressed “process” over results.

Our last “non-starter start” required bringing in substitutes to rescue the day. Today our regulars got an at bat late, but the game was already decided. Three was a lucky number as Dazsa, Noel and Guin all banged legitimate triples and Rebekah added a double.

Megan Hayes picked up the win, her fourth, and Allyson Peters got back in the circle after a bout with arm soreness to close it out. We’ll need all three of our pitchers this weekend as we defend our Hancock Tournament title and it was good to see them pitch effectively. No walks again today, so the running total is now 16 in our 15 games (13-2 is threatening to set a new JV record).

Thanks to Scott Hayes for the pix. The photobooks are completed and our editors, Amie Jo and Stacey are excited for you to see them once they’re printed.

Fox Hunt: Webster 16, Fox 1

Fox has fallen on hard times, at least on the JV level. This marks our third win in a row over what used to be a tough foe.

Best thing about this game? I had a sub gig and was running a few minutes late and probably because of that and maybe a couple other reasons the girls were not ready to go when we started our warm-up. It was, undoubtedly, our worst pre-game all season long and I had to call the girls out on it. No one likes criticism, even when it’s deserved, but the ability to respond to it in a positive way is a key life skill and I’m really proud that our girls did just that. The played a crisp game, took good at bats, stayed focused afield and on the bench, and took, and kept, control of the game, which ended with a (sort of) walk-off 2-run homer down the left field line by Elise Keller to trigger the 15-run mercy rule.

The Warriors tried a slow pitcher and a fast one, but neither had good control and issued 12 walks and hit two batters. Good, aggressive base running put the game out of reach by the end of the first and Josie Krueger slammed the door for her seventh win.

Varsity injuries might start to alter the look of our lineup as we head down the stretch, but I’m confident in our ability to use our depth. Thursday’s game against the Ritenour Huskies (also orange and black, incidentally) will be a non-starter start similar to the Lutheran South tilt. We have a very strong opponent in Marquette on Friday and then head over to the Affton complex to defend our Hancock Tournament title. (No bus transportation, remember.)

Our record now stands at 12-2 with three regular season games to go. Oh, and Tim Cerutti stopped by the see us; he plans to see lots more of us next year!

Jessica Peterson did good work behind the plate.

Maya Litton added a hit, scored two runs, and gets ready to dash home.

Kayleigh McGrew heads home from second and Julia Love's single.

Elise Keller steals third after one of her three walks.

Julia Love steals second and heads for third on a wild pitch.

On Sophomore Day Jenna Hoffman reached base and scored all three trips to the plate.

Elise Keller speeds toward third and heads home on her game-ending round tripper.

Good game? Yep! Heading for the debrief in left field after the game.

Put the Hood on that Falcon: Webster 9, Summit 3

Was this a perfect game? No, but it was awfully good as we beat Summit, a team that had been improving steadily, according to their coach, for the second time this year. I think she expected this game to be closer, given the 12-8 loss the Falcons had taken when they visited us in August.

Our pitchers continue to impress, as we improved our overall record to 11-2. In those 13 games, our pitchers have walked 15 BATTERS TOTAL. That unbelievable statistic actually improved as our tandem of freshman Megan Hayes (3-0) and sophomore Josie Krueger (2 saves, 4 in her career) gave zero (0, nada, not one, none, etc.) free passes to Summit.

That kind of pitching deserves, and received, excellent defense, with 10 infield assists and a strong patrol of CF by Rebekah Riefle. Add in a balanced offense (each spot in batting order scored a run), with 10 hits spread across the lineup, paced by 2 each from our 4-5 hitters, sophomore Allyson Peters and freshman Claire Kellick, and the result is a 9-3 win. The umpire told Coach Fechtel he had never seen so many hard hit balls in a JV game. 

We still have room to improve in our baserunning, but on the defensive side of the ball we clearly had superior focus and concentration, as we (literally stole two runs and took advantage of Summit mistakes for three more. I cannot think of a single mental mistake behind our pitchers. That’s good softball.

Believe it or not, we have just one week left in our JV season, although it’s a busy one. Our last home game (Sophomore Start) is Tuesday against Fox, followed by a non-starter start game against Ritenour, a tilt against perhaps our toughest foe to date, Marquette, and the season-ending Hancock Tournament on Saturday, when we will go for the 3-peat and try to bring home the gold (plastic trophy).

Four of our JV sophomores, Josie Krueger, Julia Love, Allyson Peters and Zoe Schultz, will get to play with the varsity this weekend in the Parkway Central tournament, the sole benefit our tournament rainout last week. This team has a chance to break some records, including most wins and best winning percentage. I’d offer some incentive to them if they needed it to finish strong, but that’s just who they are.

Freshman Megan Hayes notched her third win against her toughest opponent to date. 

Julia Love continues to anchor the hot corner with consistently sold defense.

Noel Spatola did a great job calling pitchers and keeping our hurlers in the zone (the strike zone, that is).

Allyson Peters had two hits, played flawless defense and even converted an unassisted double play.

Freshman Rebekah Riefle recorded three big outs in CF, made a strong throw on a Sac Fly in the 6th.

Josie Krueger followed Megan with three strong innings to record her second save this year and fourth overall.