We
travelled to Affton Athletic Saturday to defend our title in the Hancock JV
Tournament. Hancock HS was where I spent most of my teaching career and began
my softball coaching career.
After
some initial confusion as to opponent and location, we finally led off against Affton
for the second time this year. Like our first tilt, this game also lasted (almost)
3 innings as Josie Krueger followed Jessica Peterson’s double and circled the
bases on a hit and a misplay to end the game. Megan Hayes picked up her fifth
win the circle with a 2-hit shutout, benefitting from a nifty double play in the first by Maya Litton to
stifle the Cougars.
Game
2 pitted us against Parkway South which, behind Josie Krueger in the circle,
was less dramatic than might have been expected, ending in a 5-inning 13-1
victory, put out of reach with a 6-run fifth inning. Our Alaskan import,
Rebekah Riefle had the biggest hit, with a 2-RBI triple in the third. Solid
defense backed Josie’s 7 strikeouts and the Patriots never really mounted any
attack.
The
championship contest, like last year, pitted us against DuBourg, which tends to
bring some of the biggest, oldest looking JV players to the tournament, and
then find all sorts of things to complain about. They did, however, bat all 10
team members. Allyson Peters took the ball but suffered a recurrence of her
sore arm and we needed Josie to take over as we trailed 1-0 after a half
inning. Claire Kellick answered that run with the obligatory Field 2 homer, a
shot down the left field line to the fence, seemingly located in Grantwood
Village. Five runs in the second, from the middle of the lineup, featuring hits
from freshmen Maya Litton, Megan Hayes, Noel Spatola and Jessica Peterson, made
my heart happy for those players and relieved any tension and worry. The game
may have ended due to the time limit, but the outcome was no longer in doubt,
and the Statesmen added their third straight trophy to the collection (we had
never won this tournament until our current seniors won it as freshmen; weather
cancelled that group’s chance to defend their title as sophomores).
What
I really like about the Hancock Tournament, and the reason we play in it, is
because we can bat the lineup and give every girl a chance to show off her
skills, both at the plate and in the field. I get nervous that such an approach
will cost us a winnable game, and when you’ve been as successful as we have
been this year, it’s easy to get greedy and lose sight of our goal of building
players. But look at the box scores and you can see that every player
contributed and we got offensive production from the top, middle and bottom of
the lineup. I’m proud of our girls and how they cheered for and supported each
other. This trophy belongs to ALL OF THEM.
I’m
trying to come up with a unique way to celebrate this season, which represents
the most wins of any team I’ve coached in my career. This year has been special
for many reasons and, if we can finish with a win against Cor Jesu, will set
additional personal and team benchmarks. I have at least one oddball idea,
but no matter what else I might decide to do to commemorate this special season,
plan on a trip to Serendipity to spoil your dinner appetite after Tuesday’s
game–on me, of course.
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| Coaching is also about teamwork, and I was lucky to have two strong assistants, Chris Fechtel and.... |
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| Kate Wylie |
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| Junior Nicole Preston did a great job as our manager; she was an invaluable asset to both the team and me. |
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Taking advantage of a time gained by the quick win over Affton to reward some overdue stickers recognizing special achievements and games by our players. |
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| We appreciated the support from the seniors responsible for starting this run of tournament success. |
As always, thanks to Amy Jo Love (and her apprentice) for the pix.
