Worth County's girls overcame nine errors and erased a four run deficit in the sixth inning, scoring 13 runs to win 17-8. Afterwards, new coach Dave Gilland said that they had gotten the first-game jitters out of the way and that they would become a much better fielding team as the season progressed.
Last year, the Tigers won one game and lost many of their games via the ten run rule. They made six errors in the first two innings as they fell behind 6-2. They gave up four in the first but got two back thanks to their newfound scratch hitting ability. Haven Schottel laid down a perfect bunt, something that had been a lost art in recent years, and beat it out. This could set the tone for the whole year. Kristen Andrews followed with a walk. Then, North Nodaway made a mental mistake as both Schottel and Andrews mistakenly thought it was ball four and trotted down to second and third. North Nodaway did not catch it and they made it without a throw; it was a legal play on Worth County's part. Then, Haven scored on a wild pitch and then Kristen Andrews came home on a wild throw from the catcher to the pitcher on the play. North Nodaway plated two more to make it 6-2 after two.
Worth County was not used to playing in a close game for a change; seeking to be more aggressive on the bases this year, they ran their way into three outs on the basepaths. The conventional wisdom is to take one's chances with the lead, but play it safe on the basepaths when behind. But as the season progresses, the Tigers will get better at situational ball, which makes all the difference in the world between evenly matched teams.
Kacey Smyser showed she was one of the most improved players from last year. Power pitchers will be able to strike out 10-15 per game without a problem; however, without power pitching, the ability to change speeds is important. Kacey showed the ability to do so against North Nodaway, constantly speeding up the bats and then slowing them down with her pitches. She showed much better control this year, only walking two batters; there were a lot of 2-2 and 3-2 situations, but she did not give in. She was able to throw all three of her pitches at any time in the count, keeping everyone guessing. Last year, there was a vicious cycle of walks and errors but once everyone knew that the ball was likely to get hit in play at some point, the team settled down and cut down on their errors.
In the third inning, Katie Mullock made an outstanding defensive play when she nailed a runner at the plate to prevent a run from scoring. One big area that has improved this year is the players knowing where to go with it if they get the ball. Mullock also had the hit of the day, a towering line drive off the wall in left that drove in a run to make it 6-3 in the 4th. The wind had been a stiff breeze blowing in, but it died down in that inning, allowing some balls that had died down to fly out of the infield and drop in. Worth County made two more errors in the fifth that led to a run, but got it back when Kristen Andrews got picked off of third. She was caught in a rundown, but the ball got away on a tag and rolled away far enough for her to score to make it 7-4.
Kacey Smyser had one of her few bouts of wildness in the sixth as she uncorked a wild pitch that allowed a run to score and she walked a batter as well. But she prevented any further damage by catching a shot hit right back at her and got a called third strike as well.
Smyser then helped herself out with some speed as she hit one off the pitcher's glove to short and was safe at first to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Claire Andrews then doubled off the wall in left to make it 8-5, chasing North Nodaway pitcher Breann O'Riley. But Cambry Schluter promptly issued a four-pitch walk to Sydney Davenport and uncorked a wild pitch in the process, moving Claire to third. Jacklyn Brooks grounded out to score Andrews to make it 8-6 and Katie Mullock reached on a throw in the dirt and Haven Schottel got her second bunt hit of the evening to load the bases. Taylor Raymond, pinch-hitting for Kristen Andrews, drew a four-pitch walk and Kristen reentered for Raymond, scoring a ran. Rebecca Moore then drew another walk and the game was tied at 8. Katie Mullock then broke the tie with a a fly ball that was just over the right fielder's head that fell in for a single, scoring two to make it 10-8.
Kacey Smyser was the next to reach as North Nodaway seemingly got Rebecca Moore picked off third on a grounder, but North Nodaway dropped a tag, costing them some more runs. That loaded up the bases for Claire Andrews and she a grounder. North Nodaway tried for the force at home to keep it a two-run deficit, but Rebecca Moore slid hard into home to break up the force and was safe, making it 11-8. Sidney Davenport grounded into a force at home for the second out of the inning, but freshman Jacklyn Brooks broke the game wide open as she reached on a dropped fly ball down the right field line, scoring three runs as she reached third base to make it 14-8. Katie Mullock then singled down the right field line and circled the bases on an error by the right fielder to score two to make it 16-8 and Haven Schottel got her third bunt hit of the evening and circled the bases to make it 17-8 when North Nodaway threw it away down the right field line to end the scoring.
Worth County had a pair of outstanding defensive plays as they got a 1-2-3 seventh; Katie Mullock fielded a sharply-hit grounder and shortstop Rikki Hunt made a running catch in the hole at short to take hits away from North Nodaway.
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