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.

Statesmen Corral Longhorns, 20-2

The last time we faced Parkway West’s leftovers (their program struggles to field a JV team), their end of the bench varsity players, they pitched (and batted) a starting varsity player (although she wasn’t their regular pitcher – no problem with that – she was one of their top hitters); we won 4-3 in the abbreviated game. We weren’t sure what to expect today.

A lineout double play abruptly ended our 3-run first inning and the Longhorns answered with two of their own, despite having their leadoff batter thrown by Marko paired with a quick tag by Taylor (Ozzie) Smith. We ended our second inning with a “Code Blue” (our runner leaves early to cede an out) after a 17-run onslaught featuring walks, errors and hard hit balls as we adjusted to the s-l-o-w pitching. Although Parkway West was the home team (as the game was originally scheduled at their field), they lined up after they failed to score in the bottom of the second, leaving us little to do except shake hands. 

Not much else to say about this game, except our POGs were Morgan Lawrence with two doubles and Jilly Sanders with two well struck balls as she came in for Nic Rikand, who will make her first start in the circle tomorrow against Patonville’s Pirates. Arghhh! Players who did not start today’s game will be in the lineup to start tomorrow. (Note the game is NOT, repeat, NOT, at the high school, but at the Bridgeton Municipal Athletic Center. Bus leaves at 3 p.m.) Our final two home games are Thursday and Monday against Northwest and Ft. Zumalt West, respectively.

Two bonus pix from the weekend tournament.

Another Unsuccessful Crusade: WG 11, CJ 0

Can you play a good game against a not good team? Yes, you can. You do it by playing your game at your speed and not playing down to their level, which is what we did today against the Crusaders of Cor Jesu. Like most of the battles of the real Crusades, the battles were kind of one-sided and generally the Crusaders didn’t fare so well. Which sort of begs the question of why pick that as your mascot….

In any case, I suggested to the girls that they should put BTO’s “Taking Care of Business” on their warm up playlist. I only suggested the song; Coach Cerutti knew the group. He also gets credit for calling the play that resulted in the defensive highlight, a “strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out” double play to end the second inning and curtail a first-and-third threat with a strong throw from Marko to T. Smith at second.

Strong pitching in the circle from O and Nic. Our biggest struggle was waiting on the s-l-o-w offerings of CJ’s (not Muggs) pitcher. Friday and Morgan (helpfully batting in the 2 & 3 holes) stung the ball all four times, accounting for 7 hits and 7 runs between. Friday was our POG.

I apologize for not getting more pix on the blog. Please check back, maybe tomorrow, for today’s game and yesterday’s, but my energy is slipping away faster than the hours on the clock. So, far now, here’s the box score and the brackets for Saturday’s Fox JV Tournament. Friday will be a short practice, focusing on hitting. Given that weather is turning cooler, it may not mean as much but the girls can wear shorts for practice on Friday.

"So Ugly It Could Sit on a Tombstone and Hatch Ghosts" Webster 10, Seckman 7

“The worst JV game I’ve seen in two years,” said the Webster coach. I’m not sure that’s really an exaggeration, but the best thing about yesterday’s 10-7 win over the Seckman Jaguars C-Team was that it was played on a satellite fields and the Statesmen fans who made the trek and braved the heat were not charged $2 admission. Even the field goal we won by bounced in off the crossbar.

The game was so ugly that there are no pictures. It reminded me of an old Moms Mabley punchline: “So ugly [it] could sit on a tombstone and hatch ghosts.” Of our 27 outs, we gave up 8 on called third strikes. Our 9 errors only exceeded that number by 1. Our pitchers deserved better, but also deserve credit for not letting our sloppy play distract them from their mission. They allowed only 1 walk, and half the hits credited to Seckman came from pop ups that should have been caught.

However, we stopped flailing and bailing long enough to right the ship and limp safely into harbor with our fifth victory of the year. (POG –>Freshman Bailey Allen) Heading into our Friday home contest against the Fox Warriors, we stand at 5-6. 

We will need to play more like we did against Summit or being late to the home football game for the band activities won’t be a problem. Monday will be a designated “non-starter start” game against the Colts of Parkway Central. 

Perhaps I’ll see some of you when the WGHS Jazz Band performs Saturday at the Jazz Fest.

Great Game, But On the Wrong Side of a 4-3 Score vs. Summit

“The best JV game I’ve seen in two years,” said the home plate umpire after the game. Softball is a game of inches and we were a bit unlucky and a couple inches (well, maybe feet) away from walking it off in the bottom of the seventh.

Lots of good defensive plays (unfortunately, sort of, by both teams), few walks led to a crisply played game that Rockwood Summit won, 4-3. We may get the series tiebreaker if we face them in the Fox JV Tournament at the end of the year.

Highlight performances included three scoreless innings in the circle by POG Nic Rikand, a caught stealing by Marko, who also made a good tag at the plate on a strong throw by Emmy Gary, and a nifty 6-3-5 double play from Taylor Smith, Maci Rekart and Morgan Lawrence. We struggled against a pretty good pitcher, perhaps a bit overanxious early, then a bit timid later. Balls that were hit hard saw good plays by their center and left fielders. Even so, the tying and winning runs were in scoring position when the game ended on Morgan Lawrence’s smash at the second baseman.

So it goes, sometimes. Our record stands at 4-6 as we head down to Seckman tomorrow. If you’re going to follow us, be reminded that there will be a $2 entrance fee, although today’s game would have been worth that admission price. Not too many pictures today (but thanks, Karen Smith) because the game was too exciting to view through a camera lens! 

Speaking of pictures, don’t forget to order your photo book if you haven’t already.

Olivia Leaver fields her position to get the first out in the 4th inning.

Emmy Gary fires a strike to Nora (Marko) Marcinkiewicz to end the 4th inning.

Happy Birthday, Morgan. Cupcakes! We not only have good players, but good people and teammates. #teambonding

Pioneer Revenge: Kirkwood 6, Webster 5

Sorry this is late. I needed time to decompress, not just from this game but the season – which is kind of still ongoing. Congrats to the varsity for their thrilling 2-1 (10 inning) win over the SJA Angels (who apparently abandoned them) in the first round of the district tournament.

So how much sleep did I lose after this season-ending loss? Well, some, for sure. Lots of “What ifs….” some involving coaching decisions (Might there have been a better order? Should I have walked that #8 batter {who was really the Pioneer #4 who was late to the game} in the bottom of the seventh? Should I have put some pressure on with a couple 1-out bunts?), some involving umpiring (over which I have no control, but when the Kirkwood coach notes on what would have been Strike 3 “that’s been a strike all day [and it had been]” that then turned into a flared windy single by the eventual tying run with 2 out….

Despite Myah King serving as a one-woman wrecking crew (4 for 4 and her fifth shot over the boards into a strong wind), Caitlyn Boyle giving her those runs to drive home, and stalwart pitching from TK, Kirkwood kept creating new paths to tie the score and eventually push across the winning run in one of the most exciting games of the year.

Well, turnabout is fair play and Kirkwood scored two in the bottom of the seventh to erase the run we scored in the top of that inning to regain the lead, ending our winning streak at 10 games and sending us to Serendipity with a final record of 20-2, which looks pretty darn good when you see it in black and white. And if you’d told Coach Cerutti and me in August that we could “settle” for 20-2 or take our chances, I’m pretty sure we would have said we could “settle.”

But we also wouldn’t have wanted to miss this season with these girls, no matter the record. You can look for a season wrap up later this weekend or early next week, but this was my message in the post-mortem and the fitting last words for the last regular blog post of 2018: “I.Love.This.Team.”

Finishing Strong: WG 17, Lutheran South 0

We looked to this game against the Lancers as a tune-up for tomorrow’s tilt against the Pioneers at Kirkwood, and the chance to maybe give some Orange players a shot at time to make up for a game they missed due to band obligations.

It all worked to perfection. Because I was subbing and wanted to save my favors to ride the bus tomorrow, Coach Cerutti took over the bus duties and I didn’t arrive until after stretches. I had wanted to tell the girls to play this game like it was Kirkwood, with the same intensity, the same drive that they will bring to the field tomorrow. I didn’t get the chance, but, turns out, it wasn’t necessary, because that’s exactly the approach they took, not only to this game, but every game. The three Orange players who came along fit right in when they got their chance (and they all got at least an AB) and will bring their energy with them and to us tomorrow.

With Nic Rikand in the circle, we dominated every aspect of the game and she picked up her third victory. TK closed out the game to get her work in and be ready for tomorrow. We adjusted quickly, hit the ball hard, ran the bases aggressively (Caitlyn Boyd upped her stolen base total with two bags to eclipse Olivia Weik’s JV record of 34, with one game to play), and fielded cleanly, including a drop step and retreat on a fly ball in the sun by our flex, Lydia (Lids) Beggs, who looked like she played LF every day. The Lancer hits were basically of the infield variety and Marko erased the first when the runner had the temerity to try to steal on her – not even close.

That’s about all I have (not even sure I have a worthy picture, but haven’t had time to check as I write this before heading to bed). If it’s there, well, great. If not, you’ll have to be content with the box score. See you at KHS tomorrow for a good game and a fitting finish to a tremendous year.