Big Steps Forward, Ignore the Score. Eureka 12, Webster 1

We have already lost as many games this season as we did each of the last two. But the coaching staff is much happier this evening, following our 12-1 loss to an excellent Eureka team. With all due respect to the excellent Oakville team we saw yesterday, I’d bet that this Eureka team would beat them most of the time. The Wildcats probably could have made the score even more lopsided, but demonstrated the class consistent with their reputation and refused to take advantage of an outgunned opponent. (No implied criticism of Oakville, btw; I respect their coaching staff, as well.)

But the Statesmen worked hard and I’m certain learned from this experience, lessons that will serve us well as we grow throughout the season. Softball is a game of inches, and I can think of four balls that, given an inch or three, could have easily ended up in gloves.

Whatever the girls said in the Players Only meeting after yesterday’s game clearly had impact, and I truly respect the leadership that is growing in their roles, as well. This is a long season, one that has just started, and if we continue to progress in skill and approach, I think all of us will look back on the season as a success.

Olivia Leaver showed tremendous mental toughness in the circle, not walking a batter and battling back from some 3-ball counts. Neither errors nor rockets seemed to phase her and she kept her composure throughout. Nic Rikand’s stiff shoulder kept O in the circle a little longer than we would have preferred, but she soldiered on. Freshman Morgan Lawrence flashed leather on the left side at both short and third and Emmy Gary was a rock at 1^st. Maddie Keefer notched our first “caught stealing” and girls worked and cheered hard throughout the game.

Progress often comes in small steps and can’t always be measured by statistics. The losses might look similar on the scoreboard, but the girls unanimously agreed that today’s game was lots more fun.

Doing a little “catch-up,” we have instituted a (purely subjective) “Player of the Game” Award, a stretchy bracelet given to each game’s “winner.” (All our girls are winners.) Morgan Lawrence inaugurated the award for her game against Lindbergh; Nic Rikand took the honors after the Oakville game, and Taylor (Friday) Graning is the current bearer. Hope to see you at tomorrow’s 12:30 (or thereabouts – we follow the varsity, so the time must remain flexible, maybe earlier, maybe [but I hope not, for personal reasons] later) contest against Poplar Bluff, where you can play along trying to predict who will wear the award until our next game (players can earn the honor more than once). 

"Speed Racer" Boyle gets ready to work her slap/bunt magic, drew two walks, stole two bases.

Olivia Leaver pitched a complete game for the Statesmen; Morgan Lawrence, busy in the field, gets ready for a play.

Catcher Maddie Keefer took two good ABs, drew a walk and (via courtesy runner Jilly Sanders) scored the lone run.

CF Ally Marshall continues to develop as a slap hitter, getting one hit and driving in the lone Statesmen run.

Freshman Bailey Allen brings a lot of energy to her play, subbing in at 2B due to an injury.

Taylor Graning will play multiple positions this year because of her good glove. Today she was in right.

When not behind the plate, Marko mans the OF, and makes a catch in left in the second inning.

Nicola Rikand manned the shortstop position today; she'll also pitch and play OF.

Sophomore Ally Marshall gets ready to return the ball after making a catch in CF.

Tigers Claw the Statesmen: Oakville 18, Webster 6

In any season there will be ups and downs. This is especially true on the JV level. Today was a down day.

Not just because we lost. Not just because we lost badly. Not just because we played poorly. While all of those were true (and it must be noted that Oakville was better than we were), what made this game particularly disappointing (we coaches are disappointed FOR the girls, not IN them) was that we were not ready to put our best game on the field. 

The coaching staff had an inkling that that we might be facing a rude awakening. We didn’t really display the kind of energy that has become the Statesman Standard even in yesterday’s victory, and the result was a 7-run first inning mauling by the Tigers that essentially ended the game before we even got to bat. On a positive note, we finally discovered a sense of urgency in the third inning and answered with 5 runs of our own to extend the game to at least 5 innings. 

It’s relatively easy to be loud and energetic when you’re winning (and we’ve done a lot of that the past couple or three years); it’s more of a challenge when you’re not. I’m happy the players requested their own “players only” meeting after our post game to deal with the concerns noted. The key to success is growth, and we look forward to making progress toward that goal in the coming weeks.

Tomorrow doesn’t get any easier, as we travel down I-44 to Eureka to face the Wildcats. I’m looking forward to seeing the fire return to the Statesmen tomorrow and Saturday against Poplar Bluff. The card reader from Amazon didn’t make it when promised, so you’ll have to wait for an update (I’ll notify you) for pictures and just settle for the box score.
These just in. Because the time is 11:30 p.m., no captions, just pix, courtesy of players on the bench and our managers, Jack Korte and Zoe Weik.

Off and Running: Webster 9, Oakville 4

Our first challenges of the season were the result not of the sport of fastpitch softball but the weather. Our opening game against the Lindbergh Flyers was postponed (to October 3) due to Wednesday morning’s deluge. Our next opponent, the usually powerful Oakville Tigers, called Thursday to let us know their field was unplayable (and their coach predicted it would remain so for the foreseeable future, to the extent that they have already moved some of their games to Affton Athletic next week). Coach Cerutti and Athletic Director Collins joined Webster maintenance in working and dragging the field to make it ready not only for the varsity contest but our JV tilt that formed the second game of the unplanned double header. The 5 innings constituted a complete game.

We have a challenging schedule this year and would have preferred to start with more of a confidence builder (there’s no guarantee Lindbergh would have met that description, by the way, but it’s been more than a few years since they’ve been able to fly past us). However, Mama Nature dictated this was how we would start.

We took advantage of shaky Tiger defense to score four runs in the first inning, taking tough at bats against a hard-throwing Oakville hurler (we defeated her last year, as well), putting the ball in play and pressuring their defenders. A key at bat was Nora Marcinkiewicz’s battle with runners on second and third and down to her last strike. Although she was out at first on a throw by their catcher, Ivy Clark used smart base running to score the first run, followed quickly by Myah King channeling her inner Harrison Bader and scoring from second. Three solid hits by Emmy Gary, Nicola Rikand and Taylor Smith plated two more runs and a 4-0 lead.

Oakville had a strong hitting club, but Taylor Knapp struck out six and walked no one to limit their opportunities. We also saw some standout defense, notably from Alyssa Moran, Rikand, Clark and Smith. Eschewing (yes, I really do talk like that) the easy out at first, TK, Nora and Myah cut down a “certain” run at the plate and kept the Tigers caged with a zero in that first inning.

Even when Oakville closed the gap to 5-4, the Statesmen kept their composure (as true statesmen do) and made the plays to give us time to add on with more good baserunning, excellent bunting, and opportune hitting. Rocket atom balls by King and Marcinkiewicz were caught to keep the score close. As darkness closed out the game, the new scoreboard lit up the night, Webster 9, Oakville 4.

We have another tough contest tomorrow when the JV of perennial state contender Eureka comes to call. I know the girls and the coaching staff appreciate the great support we had tonight, including the varsity girls who stuck around to cheer us on. Great energy from the bench was a fitting punctuation mark as we notched the first (but not last) win of 2018.

Taming the Tigers: Webster 4, Oakville 0

We’ve been wanting a close game. Always be careful what you wish for, because we had a 1-0 lead after 4 innings and finally prevailed 4-0. We anticipated a tough game against the Oakville Tigers and that’s what we got. The Tigers pitcher was probably the fastest we have seen so far and it took a time through the line-up to adjust.

What really turned the day, however, was stout defense in the outfield. I told the girls yesterday that as I was going through the pictures that will make up your daughter’s photobook (shameless plug to get your orders in now – there are some great shots, but I’ll get to that later), what stood out to me was that in almost every picture our outies were on the move, backing up, doing all the right things, not just some of the time, but every time.

It is not easy to be an outie in softball, because there’s lots of work for not a lot of opportunities. We have asked our outfielders to be active, moving on every pitch, backing up every play. And they have responded. We may not make every catch (although we certainly did today, with spectacular efforts by all three outfielders, Rebekah in left, Noel in center and Jessica in right), but we are on the move and doing a tough job the way it needs to be done. Kudos!

Kelly Collins notched her seventh win in the circle with perhaps her best game this year, featuring a 2-hitter with 4 Ks and only 1 walk. By the way, we are averaging fewer than 2 walks per game for our staff. Not a surprise that we moved our record to 15-2 with this 4-0 victory. The girls then celebrated at Imo’s, further cementing (with congealed cheese?) their beautiful team bond. This year has been magical in so many ways. I’ll wax more eloquently(?) about that later. For now, here’s the box and the pictures, a duty the girls have taken over, with outstanding results on yet another level!