Time to Retire? Kirkwood 18, Webster 9

Give Kirkwood credit. We jumped out to a 6-run lead, but the Pioneers refused to circle their wagons and hunker down. Instead, they went on the attack, ran the bases aggressively, continued to put pressure on us, and we cracked, dropping our overall record to 9-7.

With two players injured and two more just out of their sick beds, we had trouble adjusting both mentally and physically. The 9-run deficit does not reflect the difference between the teams. I think we win 4 or 5 times if we play them 10 times, but the Kirkwood coaching staff has done a great job of improving their program.

But if I've ever lost to Kirkwood as a JV coach, I don't remember it; we won the last two years in extra innings each time, results reflective of their improving program. Oh, the shame....

We swung the bats pretty well, paced by Alina Castro's 4-for-4 game, which included a 2-run homer in the first. However, we had trouble getting the ball to stick in our gloves; neither did we seem as mentally sharp as in previous games and had trouble responding to their aggressive base running.

That happens, so you move on, keep working hard (no complaints on that score), and work for a win against Northwest Cedar Hill tomorrow. Then we try to finish our last week of the season with a rush. We will only have a 23-game schedule as McClure North changed their mind about making up the rainout which was scheduled, and then unscheduled, for October 5. 

So we'll finish at the Hancock Tournament and try to defend our championship status. 

Ugly Day, Ugly Loss

I noticed that this blog has just passed the 10,000-view plateau. Certainly an ego boost, which is a lot more than can be said for yesterday’s game.

Make no mistake, FHC was the better team. If we played them 10 times they would probably win 9, but only if they were sick with the flu or something on the day of the other game. And some of those games would have been 10-run mercy wins. But not all of the, and not yesterday’s 15-run rule if we play like we are capable of playing, which we did not yesterday. Our pitcher, Josie Krueger, deserved a better fate and pitched more effectively than the score would indicate.

Yes it was hot, brutally hot (for both teams). Yes the field could have used as a set piece creating a diorama of the Dust Bowl of the ‘30s. But FHC had not played at that field before yesterday, either. What Coach Cerutti and I talked with the team about post-game was was improving our game readiness, running crisp, focused pre-game warm-ups, being prepared from the first pitch.

We have a busy week upcoming, with games Wednesday (home –McClure North), Thursday (home conference game vs. Pattonville), and Friday (away at Lindbergh), followed by the Parkway Central Tournament Saturday morning. I have requested the bus for 7:00 a.m. hoping we can depart for Manchester Athletic at 7:15. Tournament protocol calls for every player to get at least one full game during a tournament. I will post probable starting line-ups by Friday, latest.

Finally, the Cor Jesu Academy game has been rescheduled for Monday, September 28 on Field 7 at Affton Athletic.

Ugly Wins > Ugly Losses: Webster 15, McCluer North 12

With apologies to Moms Mabley, this win was so ugly that if you put it on a tombstone it would hatch ghosts. Despite a flat start, we came back and finally prevailed.

Nevertheless, it was truly a team win, with important contributions from each and every player. Claudia LeSage provided most of the pop with a double and triple, scoring three runs and driving in four. Olivia Weik set the table at the top of the order, reaching base four times and stealing four bases. In the game’s most exciting play, she scored from second base on a bunt single by Emma Hintze.

Our fielding, unfortunately, was as rough as the field we played on and we threw the ball around a little. However, we turned a pretty double play in the seventh to stifle a Stars rally when they tried to run the bases as aggressively as we did and ran themselves out of an inning for the second time.

Perhaps previewing the tandem approach that we may use next year, ACB and Grace Behrle alternated in the circle to secure the win. The Stars, Coach Poe’s alma mater, are a new addition to our schedule and proved a worthy, athletic opponent and kept us uncomfortable all day long. If you think we got cheated out of games by circumstances beyond our control, this loss finalized their season record at 3-3.

I’ll post a season wrap up later, probably over the weekend, along with season stats. For now, thanks to all the girls for their hard work. I can confidently say that we met the goal of seeing improvement in every player and look forward to watching them continue to grow in the Webster Softball program. See you at the end-of-year party, hosted by the Loves, on October 18.