Good (enough) but not Great. Webster 10, Lindbergh 6

Here’s an irony. The Lindbergh coaches were happier in their loss than the Webster coaches were in our victory. Not that we were unhappy. We used this game to learn some things about our club, but in the process we let the Flyers stay in the game and saw ourselves tied at 5 runs apiece after 4 innings. A productive 4-run fifth inning finally put the game away, Lindbergh kept fighting and clawing and caused some nerves (at least among the coaches) in the dugout.

Taylor Knapp picked up the win with 4 innings of 1-run ball in relief. The top of the order found their batting strokes, going a collective 7 for 10 with a double, triple and 6 RBI. Knapp also provided the big hit with a 2-run double and then later scored herself. The defense stiffened against the Flyer short game (about half of their hits were bunts) and the Statesmen prevailed, 10-6.

So what was with the cranky coaches? Well, cranky is probably a little strong, but, in part due to the split squad work of yesterday, the team, including me, just didn’t seem quite focused. For better or (perhaps) worse, we remained (overly?) confident, a confidence that, of course, paid off. Confidence is a fine line; you need it, of course, but it needs to be reinforced with performance.

We kind of felt like we only played our B-game today, and we’ll need our A-game tomorrow against Marquette. We kept up the energy, the camaraderie, the mutual support, but it just didn’t seem the same somehow. The Mustangs might be the best team we’ll see this year, and a team we have only ever threatened, but never followed through on, to beat. Come see your Statesmen tomorrow and join the noise from the dugout.