Ft. Zumwalt West Tourney Recap

 Apologies for the tardiness of this entry. About midway through yesterday’s tournament, Coach Cerutti noted, “I can tell I’m older this year.” Were I young and hip (which, actually, I never was; well, I guess I was young once) I would have replied, “Word,” or “Truth,” or whatever happens to be the young hip expression du jour. Because there were numerous players within earshot I also didn’t respond, “No – uh – kidding.” I just said, “Me, too.” But better late than never (also not a young, hip, phrase, but at least an expression that’s actually older than we are).

To be honest, looking at the bracket for our third trip to the Ft. Zumwalt West JV Tournament at Ozzie Smith Sports Complex in O’Fallon, I might have predicted a 1-2 outcome. The day ended with that outcome but left me feeling a little disappointed. Not in the girls, but I just felt we had a real opportunity to walk away with the Consolation Championship Plaque and, as we entered the final game against St. Dominic, was hopeful, almost confident, that we could walk away a winner. And we came close.

Don’t misunderstand, there were lots of positives to come out of this tournament. We fell behind in each game, but battled back in each game to either tie or take the lead. We hung on in the middle game against Summit, when their coach (prematurely) pulled her starting pitcher (and catcher) and we rallied with 7 runs, added on 2 more after she re-entered her starters, and held on for a 9-6 victory. I don’t expect her to repeat that strategy when we face Summit again on Tuesday.

We played 20 of the 21 innings possible, which, on the JV level with an hour and a half time limit, is kind of remarkable and a testament to our pitchers not walking lots of girls or getting into many deep counts. 

With injuries, illness, and absences we were a little short-handed, although we’re kind of used to that; we played almost all last season with 11 players, and occasionally just 10. The girls just bowed their necks and went to work, not giving less than their best until the last out closed out the day. This is a fine group of young women and it’s a pleasure to work with them.

We had a large parent contingent out to cheer their players, and that’s always welcome. The umpiring was, um, a little uneven but I appreciated our girls and fans for living up to our high expectations for sportsmanship.

So here are the box scores and some pictures the kids took during the day.

 

First baseman Emmy Gary keeps her composure to corral a loose ball and get the out at 1.

Coaching girls is different. Just sayin'....

Pitcher Olivia Leaver gets the easy out at first.

Getting ready to fight for the Consolation Championship v. St. Dominic

Players, please note. The Summit runner is getting a TERRIBLE jump!

BaileyAllen rounds third, heading for home on Morgan Lawrence's triple.

Maddie K had a double in each game. Here she becomes better acquainted with second base as Summit changes pitchers.

Coach Cerutti and Caitlyn Boyle

Should make someone's cover photo for some social media platform, don't you think?

Freshman Bailey Allen  signals 2 outs to her teammates.

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.

FZW Tourney: Third Place

If you were expecting this earlier, I apologize. I needed a nap. #joysofaging Of course it was more than that. What a day!

Game 1: Webster 21, Timberland 5

The cool morning didn’t put a chill on the JV-Black’s enthusiasm – or their bats as we faced a Timberland team that had only lost one game coming into this tournament. In last year’s contest against the Wolves we threw a 12-spot on the board in the first inning, effectively ending the contest. So, unlike the 2017 tournament, Timberland wasn’t as stunned by the six runs we put up, highlighted by Marko’s first of two triples. They answered with two runs of their own, but were shut down by a DP on a nice play by Nicola Rikand, who had to have set some kind of record by notching 3 outs AND an assist in that inning.

Seven runs went up on the scoreboard in the second as Taylor Smith joined in the “Triple Your Fun” promotion that we were apparently running. To Timberland’s credit, they didn’t give up and added three of their own tallies. However the synchronicity of 8 runs in the third subdued the Wolves and they whimpered quietly in their dens as the game came to an end and our winning streak stretched to 9.

Game 2: Francis Howell Central 12, Webster 0

All good things must come to an end and Francis Howell Central sent a wake-up call. The eventual winners of the tournament are a very strong team and I probably made a strategic error in choosing “Home” when we won the toss (well, technically, they lost the toss and I got to pick). I strongly, if briefly, considered batting first and, hopefully, grabbing the momentum. I went with conventional wisdom, though, and FHC started strong with 2 runs. Their good pitcher wiggled out of 2-on, 2-out jam and we never really gained traction after that, managing only two more hits and whiffing 8 times in the four innings.

When they added 3 more runs in the third and we were generating nothing in the way of offense, I pulled TK to save some pitches for the final game and to give the Spartans a different look. Despite our throwing strikes, their offense was on a roll (we know how that goes) and didn’t slow down; the game ended on a time-limit ruling with Webster’s winning streak and hope for a championship rematch with Fort Zumwalt West dashed.

Game 3: Webster 17, Ft. Zumwalt West 14

It may have been a Saturday afternoon, but despite the score this was not a football game. Both teams had on their hitting shoes and ball was flying. So was our CF, Alyssa (Venus Flytrap) Moran, who recorded 5 putouts, including 3 spectacular ones (see pic below).

In our post-mortem of the previous game, after our first loss and definitely our most poorly played contest (taking nothing away from FHC – I think we can give them a better game, but if we played them 10 times, I think they’d probably win most of them), we talked about the character of a team being defined by how it responds to adversity, how it bounces back.

If you weren’t sure of the character of this team, this game put it on a 3-story mural for all to see. And we did it against the team we had hoped to play in a rematch of the 2017 championship game, the team that ended our winning streak last year in the final of this same tournament, Fort Zumwalt West. Both their coach and I were happy to have a rematch, based on last year’s great contest, just not in the third place game!

We jumped out to a 6-run lead in our first AB, but the Jaguars responded with 5 of their own, and countered our two in the second (HR by Marko! – no courtesy runner needed, but thanks to JV-Orange’s Maci Rekart for spending the day with us and serving in that important role) with two of their own. We traded scoreless third innings with no real threats by either side and we added a run in the fourth on Alyssa Moran’s second triple and great base running dash home on a short passed ball.

But the Jags put up 4 in the fifth and 2 more in the sixth and despite the sunshine (finally!) things looked dark for the Statesmen as we headed into the seventh down by 4 runs.

Character? Believe it, the same way these girls believe in themselves. Taylor Graning, with her second double of the day, chased home Nicola and Maci to put us within 2 and advanced to third on the throw. Caitlyn Boyle did her thing to put herself on first (and then second with a stolen base) and bring in Friday (on Saturday. #sorrynotsorry). Taylor Smith sewed up the tie with a base hit and we headed into the bottom of the seventh all even.

Pitcher Taylor Knapp bowed her back and put the heart of the Jaguars’ order down 1-2-3, setting the stage for another 4-run inning. FZW answered with a long bomb and two more hits to start the eighth, but a well played bunt by Lydia Beggs and 2 Ks from TK ended a great game with an exclamation point and a third place trophy.

I could not be more proud of this team. They could have quit but just refused to do. That’s an attribute that goes well beyond softball, as is their support for each other. The next winning streak has started and I’m looking forward to this week to see how far it can run. We travel to Hazelwood West on Tuesday, we play after the varsity at Affton Athletic on Wednesday (full game, they have lights, just not quite enough players) and then host Kirkwood on Friday. I hope you’ll be able to find the time to join us and cheer on this great group of girls.

We have a few pics from today, but check back later either tomorrow or Monday evening because I hope to add some more. Captions will also be included , but this first pairing deserves special treatment, as you see Venus (Flytrap) Moran’s amazing catch and her teammates’ reaction to it! (Photo Credit Karen Smith)