Tigers Declawed: Webster 10, Festus 0

As we head into the tough FZW Tournament this weekend we are playing good ball and remain undefeated after taking down the Tigers from Festus 10-0, in an all around solid effort against a pitcher who splits time with the varsity. And she wasn’t the only varsity player to make the trip from Jefferson County.

Nevertheless behind Taylor Knapp’s consistent pitching, solid defense, good base running, and hitting that adjusted (including Myah King’s first home run) with some solid knocks, the game was never really in doubt. Festus never mounted a threat to dent the plate and it was only a question of how many innings it would take to end the contest. The Festus coach put in a new pitcher in the fifth inning (and she wasn’t bad, although not varsity caliber), we scored the five runs we needed to trigger the 10-run rule, and that was that.

We head out to St. Charles this weekend for the rescheduled FZW tournament (Gordon washed us out two weeks ago), opening against Timberland; it looks like we’re going to be a bit short-handed with injuries and family emergencies. But we have a solid core of players; even those on the bench on any given day are good ballplayers who contribute to our team and its culture. 

Before complaining though, let’s just be thankful that’s ALL we have to deal with, and nothing like Florence in the Carolinas. When you get spoiled by success, and I am, it’s important to remind yourself that we’re not playing for world peace (or even whirled peas). That’s more advice I’m giving myself than anyone else. The weather forecast is much less ominous than two weeks ago so I’m going for cautious optimism we’ll get this one in. Hope to see you out there.

As always, thanks to Andrew Graning and the girls for the pics that follow.

Caitlyn Boyle continues to develop her LH slap/bunt skills, as well as playing an excellent RF on defense.

Friday Graning uses the backhand dart flip to get the lead runner at second as Nicola Rikand takes the toss.

TK picked up her eighth win, is on pace to set new JV season & career win marks.

Alyssa Moran stung the ball in her last three ABs, including this rocket to end the game.

This was one of the two hits allowed by TK, a swinging pop bunt just out of everyone's reach.

I could not be more pleased at this team's chemistry, love for the game, desire to improve, and sportsmanship.

The post game post mortem includes mostly compliments, a rare critique (today it was if you're on deck, help your teammate coming home by pointing where to slide), and an occasional appearance by a "Spirit Animal."