Finish Strong: WG 14, Ft. Zumwalt West 4

“I’ve been workin’ on a rewrite, that’s right, gonna change the ending….”

As we trailed 4-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning against a strong opponent, I was composing my lead and headline, thinking about T.S. Eliot’s “This is how the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.” But the JV Black Statesmen did their own rewrite and redefinition of the Big Bang Theory, forcing me to do a rewrite as they changed the ending, racing past the Jaguars of Ft. Zumwalt West with an 8-run answer, adding 5 more in the fifth inning and sending our guests hobbling home, reeling with the mercy-rule clincher in the sixth.

Ten games ago, JV Black’s record stood at 7-7. The girls closed their season with a 16-8, mark, winning 9 of their last 10. This was truly another team win and featured contributions from 15 of the 16 players (including three from our Orange squad) dressed for the contest (and that player, Faith Lowry, was ready to go in the circle if needed). 

As Coach Cerutti headed to the bench in the bottom of the fourth he was working on his pep talk. He decided it wasn’t needed. He was right. This team doesn’t quit, not on a game, not on each other. The end-of-season celebration, moved from Serendipity to Fro-Yo, was sweet, joyous, and well deserved. In the next couple days I’ll post a season-ending wrap up, but, for now, enjoy the box score and the memory of this come-from-behind season-ending victory over a good FZW squad.

Go, go, get ‘em…. They went and got ‘em.

Rival Redux: Webster 10, Kirkwood 9

   Darn those Pioneers! This well-coached team (we get to play them again later in the season) refused to quit, came back to not only tie, but take the lead – twice! But guess who else refused to quit – the Statesmen! Even after K-wood scored in the top of the 8^th to go up 7-6, our team willed itself to a victory.

I am tired, but not so lazy that I can’t write new copy. The above paragraph is from LAST YEAR’s game against Kirkwood’s Pioneers (which ended 8-7; this year’s score was 10-9). What’s that expression, “Déjà vu all over again”? That’s what Kirkwood’s coach thought. In many ways, this was high school softball at its finest. The umpires concurred. “Best game I’ve had this year,” said both of them. Rival programs battling it out with heart and respect for their opponent. Sportsmanship prevailing (and isn’t sportsmanship essentially respect?).

Of course, in other ways, this was our most poorly played game of the year (I was going to say “arguably” but there really was no argument when I opened the post-mortem with, “Nice win, ladies, but we kind of sucked.”). Lots of mistakes on the field and on the bases (and one could argue in the 3^rd base coaching box). But the character of this team was revealed by its attitude (r-e-s-p-e-c-t) toward each other; no slumped shoulders, no pointed fingers, no recrimination, no cliquey huddles, just whose turn to pick us up? What fun to watch, what fun to coach.

Highlights? You want highlights? Yes, there were a few, and, then again, not too few to mention. Caitlyn Boyle (Yes, I’m going to bunt. What are you going to do about it?) had four hits and made two nice catches in RF (plus always being in the right place on throws to 1B). Alyssa Moran added a double and a triple to her extra base hit collection. Myah King cleared the fence by plenty for her third HR – no pressure, just the bottom of the seventh down by a run – which generated her third intentional walk (that HAS to be a JV record) when she came up in the eighth. Get used to it Myah. That loaded the bases, thanks to two well-worked walks by our 8 and 9-hole batters, “Lids” Beggs and “Friday” Graning.

Intentional walks don’t work if there’s protection behind the hitter, and for the second game in a row, “Marko” made the opposition pay, this time with a bases clearing bolt to the right center gap to drive in the walk off winner (It would have been yet another triple for her, but we only needed two runs, and I would guess she’s probably pretty happy getting credit of a double.) Shortstop Nicola Rikand made an eye-popping dive and throw to get the Pioneer leadoff batter in the top of the eighth, helping to limit their damage to just one run. And TK notched her 13^th win in the circle, keeping her composure (and helping her teammates keep theirs) despite 6 unearned runs.

Another team win. Going into “Sophomore Day” next Tuesday against Pattonville, our record stands at 13-1. We also have Lindbergh’s Flyers at home on Wednesday and travel to Bug Heaven (Northwest Cedar Hill – scouting report says, “Pack the Deet”) on Thursday. The latter two games are both winnable and losable and each should provide another good test. Whether we prevail or not, we now know this Statesmen team will not quit. And thanks to Karen Smith for these great pix!

That score is about to change in the bottom of the seventh. A no-doubter, "She Gone!" (apologies to the Hawk Harrelson)

Myah King gets her deserved Hero's welcome after belting her third home in two games.

What happens when you walk Myah King? Marko happens -- to the fence in right center for a walk off winner!

And another deserved hero's welcome. But these girls also know that none of this happens without the work of their teammates who created the opportunity for victory.

Walk Off Winner: Webster 8, Kirkwood 7 (8 innings)

I.Love.This.Team!

Yes, still, even if they just added to my obviously folliculated-challenged status.

Because after an exciting walk-off win against KIRKWOOD!, what were they saying? That this was a team win, that everyone on the team was a part, an IMPORTANT PART, of this victory. Sorry if I’m shouting, but I’m still excited, even after a Pueblo Solis therapy session.

Finally, a real game! This would have been a heart-breaker to lose, but most of us know that you can, eventually, get over a broken heart. (Or so I’ve heard; I’ve been lucky enough not to have experienced that first-hand.) But how much better not to have to, to celebrate, as the girls are right now with a camp-out (See above and thanks to the Collins family for hosting--Yes, all 14 of them!), getting even closer (is that even possible?!?) as a team. The umpire asked Coach Cerutti, “Are they always this loud?” “That’s our team,” said Coach. Yep.

Darn those Pioneers! This well-coached team (we get to play them again later in the season) refused to quit, came back to not only tie, but take the lead – twice! But guess who else refused to quit – the Statesmen! Even after K-wood scored in the top of the 8^th to go up 7-6, our team willed itself to a victory.

Megan Hayes worked lead-off walk in a great AB. And with the bases loaded, Nicola Rikand UNloaded for a walk-off double and an 8-7 victory. Much more exciting and rewarding than our first five wins. The girls agreed, that, win or lose (and winning is better, of course) that this is the kind of softball game we want every time.

And here’s the thing. We can get better. We played far from a perfect game, far from our best softball. After Hannah Jansen took the air out of the Pioneer’s Conestoga tires (well, technically Conestoga’s didn’t really have tires) in a spectacular third inning display, we started making mistakes. In fact, up until the final inning, Kirkwood, quite frankly, outplayed us, making fewer mistakes than we did. But they couldn’t outheart us, and that proved to be the difference.

Kelly Collins, in relief of Taylor Knapp and Nicola Rikand, each of who recorded pressure outs, (and herself), picked up her well-deserved third win in the circle. The Kirkwood coach kept thinking, “What, another pitcher?” We used, and needed, all three. I close with this final obscure reference. We followed Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Rule #1: Don’t Panic!

That’s a winner, 6-0. More tough games to come and, as Coach Cerutti noted in the post-game, now we know what we need to work on. Given the fire and work ethic of this group of great young women, you can expect to come out and enjoy even more and better softball in the games to come. And check back for pictures. You’ll forgive me if I was a little too wrapped up in coaching the game to take my camera off the fence, and our players were too excited to do any snapping either.

Just.Wow!

Not Good, But Good Enough. Webster 10, Lindbergh 8

In a game that even the girls described as sloppy, the JV Statesmen played just well enough to win. That may not be fair. The defense was actually pretty good, for the most part. Elise Keller came oh-so-close to making three spectacular catches and the Flyers benefitted from an absurd hop off the grass lip to convert a single into a homerun.

Our base-running left something to be desired on several different occasions and took the pressure off the Lindbergh defense, which had proven itself vulnerable. We seemed to have trouble adjusting to the Flyer pitcher, even though she was even a little faster than the Lutheran South pitchers we saw yesterday. We just seemed to kind of play in slow-motion.

It’s one thing to expect to win, it’s another to act like you don’t need to play your best to earn a victory. There are any number of opportunities for us to learn that lesson in the next few games, but maybe we’ll learn from today and get back to the crisp pace that we demonstrated on the way to our 9-1 record. Festus offers that first challenge on Thursday. We pretty much become road warriors after that.

Nevertheless, we played well enough to defeat Lindbergh and came right back when they jumped out to a 6-3 lead. Rebekah Riefle paced our offense with three hard hits, including a long double to the fence, and Josie Krueger had two; she also picked up her and our first save of the season in relief of Allyson Peters, who did a great job in the circle. Zero walks for our sophomore pitching tandem, and only 13 for the whole staff in 10 games. Pretty remarkable for any staff (apparently even the Cardinals), much less JV softball!

As always, thanks to Amy Jo Love for some great photos. If you haven’t ordered your photobook yet, you might want to talk to Amy Jo or Stacey Greer.