New Location, Same Result: Parkway Central Tournament

We moved this year from the Francis Howell Tournament the last weekend in September to the Parkway Central Tournament closer to the midway mark of the season. The timing is better and we hoped the competition would be a little more balanced. 

There was still some carryover in teams (Timberland and Hazelwood West, both of whom we faced Saturday, of course), and the competition is uneven, but that is the nature of the beast, not just in JV softball but occasionally on the varsity level, as well. We felt like this tournament might allow us a better assessment, a mid-term grade, if you will. It also offers the (unneeded this year) potential to reschedule should weather become an issue.

But most of all, the FH Tourney had stopped being fun. We would travel a long way for a butt-kicking in the first game (ever since we came in second a few years ago we found ourselves in an extremely tough bracket – coincidence?), followed by a lopsided game in the other direction in Game 2, culminating in another butt-kicking in the finale (“consolation championship”). In other words, we weren’t really getting any opportunity to learn anything. A personal conflict that weekend aside, we had already talked to Activities Director Collins about finding a new tournament, and so we jumped at the chance when Parkway Central called.

We opened up against a very weak DuBourg Cavaliers squad. That program has made progress recently, but apparently took a step back this year. Josie Krueger pitched a 3-inning no hitter, walks were abundant, and the game ended with 2 outs in the bottom of the third, 15-0. The only real upside was the chance to give every play an AB, some of which weren’t planned.

It also gave us (too much) time to wait for the end of the game to determine our next opponent, a match of Kirkwood vs. Hazelwood West that went into extra innings. Hazelwood West took advantage of the rematch (we had defeated them 8-4 earlier) and with the help of a generous strike zone, and won easily, 10-1, as their pitched notched 11 of the 15 outs via KO. We played okay but never really mounted a threat. Had we been able to put the ball in play, as we did at our house a couple weeks ago, the result might have been different.

That set us up to play a new opponent, Fort Zumwalt West, in the third place game. They had just lost a tough contest to Timberland and were in a foul mood, thinking that game had cost them a chance to influence the course of world events or something. In any case, despite a 2-run bomb by Zoe Schulz, they broke the contest open with a 7-run fourth inning and scored the 10-run victory one out shy of finishing the 5^th inning. Not that it would have mattered, because we ran out of time, as well.

We were able to keep our promise that every girl would get one full game of batting and fielding, and the inevitability of the first and last game allowed us to provide playing time for the bench, as well. Even though we finished with a 1-2 record for the tournament (the same as the past few years out at Francis Howell), we felt like we had more competitive, balanced games, even if the outcomes were pretty clear early.

As far as mid-term grades go, Coach Cerutti and I feel like we may have turned the corner in team energy. The girls seem to be coming together in terms of commitment and team identity. We are pleased with their progress, both as softball players and teammates and look forward to the last three weeks, finishing up with the Hancock Tournament. Once again, we guarantee every girl will have at least one complete game at which to show her (hopefully improved) skills. Hancock is a little bit of an oddity (the tournament, although as a 37-year veteran of that high school, the school and district also fit that description), in that it offers us the option to “bat the lineup” like some summer leagues, and we take advantage of that.

So mark your calendars for the weekend of October 3 at Affton Athletic Association (no bus: some of you could walk there faster than the bus anyway), where we will try to defend our 2013 Championship (we were rained out last year). In the meantime, enjoy the box scores and AmyJo Love’s pictures from this weekend’s games.

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.

The No Fun Tourney; Francis Howell Tournament

When even the game you win isn’t fun, or even competitive, you may begin to question whether this is the right tournament for your team. You might be able to learn a little from getting clobbered 15-0 by a superior opponent, buy you learn almost nothing (except how to be a gracious winner, perhaps) from winning 23-3 (and 3 of the 9 outs made by the opponents coming from deliberately leaving the base early). Even the third game, which could or should have been the most competitive, wasn’t, at least in part because the first two games didn’t prepare us for anything. (We lost to Timberland, 11-1; we’re better than that, but I don’t want to claim how much better.)

We dropped out of the Parkway Tournament a few years ago because we couldn’t compete with most of the teams. I think that has changed. Perhaps I’m being premature, because we have even played for the championship in the Francis Howell Tournament; perhaps the last two years have represented a bad run or draw. On the other hand, if I’m putting together my own tournament, I schedule my first game against a beatable opponent, and we’ve faced host Francis Howell the past two seasons, and they have been loaded. In previous years, when we had been successful, we found ourselves facing the defending champion. Maybe I am being paranoid, but remember, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they're NOT out to get you.

Still, the results were what they were, and it’s time to move on to our last week, a tough one, with a 10-6 composite record, and the Hancock Tournament ahead, where we are the defending champions. The box scores, such as they are, are below, with some pix by Amy Love.

    We will practice on Monday, have our last home game on Tuesday (Sophomore Day, although that designation means less than in other years, with only three sophomores who are already key starters), against Parkway West.

With apologies in advance (although I want to point out that the coaching staff is not subject to HIPA rules*), I’m going to share some statistics from last year (on the blog in the season summary) that I think are significant. Our captain, Hannah Love, played in only 17 of the 23 games last season, with only 37 plate appearances. Our lead pitcher, AnnaClaire Bryant, played in only 16 of the 23, with just 26 plate appearances. Even Maggie Pool, who was more of a starter last year, only saw action in 20 of the 23 and made it the plate just 48 times. Their response to their limited playing time was to go to work to get better and work hard during the off-season. Their reward: lots of time this year and an expanded role on and off the field. Coach Gibson is looking forward to their continued improvement and joining him on the Varsity Squad next year.

We are road warriors Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as we travel to Fox, Hazelwood West, and Marquette, respectively. All will be challenging games. Our final game will be at McCluer North,, Coach Poe’s alma mater (and a school that didn’t even exist when I did my student teaching up in Ferg-Flor) next Tuesday.

We are looking forward to the Hancock Tournament next weekend. We take advantage of the “Bat the Lineup” and “Free Substitution” rules, and use this tournament as a showcase event that gives our players a chance to show off their skills and their parents a chance to see the same. When we win the plastic, as we did last year, it’s a bonus.

We do NOT provide transportation to that tournament, based on the fact that some kids could get to Affton Athletic almost as quickly as they could get to the high school to take a bus. The first game starts at 8:00 a.m., the games are on a strict 1-hour 20 minute time limit, and we’ll be done by 12:30 at the latest. I would like the girls to be at AAA ready to warm up no later than 7:20, so they can help get the equipment to our first field, (Field #5, against Parkway South).

HIPA Joke of the Day: Knock knock; Who’s there?; HIPA; HIPA Who? Sorry, can’t tell you.