Worth County's softball girls showed some improvement from their first game against Albany, but they could not hold a 4-0 lead and fell 13-7 to the Warriors Thursday evening. After swinging under the ball throughout the first game, Worth County hit the ball much better the second time around and were able to put some runs on the board. They made some good plays out in the field, including three double plays. But as Coach Dave Gilland told his charges after the game, the team still needed to get better at doing the little things in order to get better. There were four called third strikes as well as seven errors out in the field. Gilland summed it up, "You just have to trust yourselves."
The Tigers were going through a tough stretch; they also competed in the King City Tournament against three of the top softball teams in the area. They fell 16-1 against Gallatin and then had to play South Nodaway, whom NEN Coach Darlene Conover tabbed as a contender in the PVC. Worth County did better the second game and went the distance, but still fell to the Longhorns 8-3.
Albany made a ton of errors in the top of the first inning, committing five. Worth County has been working on bunting and slapping this year and the effort paid off when Sidney Troutwine laid down a perfect bunt and beat it out and then circled the bases when Albany threw the ball around. Payton Adwell, who reached on a dropped fly ball, also scored on the play. Mollie Blaine showed some of her trademark speed in the inning when she ran out a grounder to the pitcher and caused her to hurry a throw, leading to another error and a Tiger run; another run scored on a wild pitch.
But when you have a big inning on offense, it is imperative to have a shut-down inning on defense. That did not happen as Worth County committed two errors in the inning and Albany scored three runs to get back into the game. "I was disappointed, because we could have won this game," said Gilland. But for that to happen, the team has to cut down on the called third strikes and errors. The inning could have been much worse, but shortstop Sidney Troutwine made a strong throw to first to Alysa Lyle, who made a strong throw to Dominique Findley to retire a runner trying to get from first to third on the play.
Worth County killed a potential rally in the third with two called third strikes after getting runners on first and second to start the third. Alysa Lyle beat out a perfect bunt single in the inning, showing a lot of speed. She also beat out a perfect slap hit as well.
Albany scored four runs in the bottom of the third to take control; catcher Adrian Fletchall re-sprained her ankle in the inning trying to corral a wild pitch. It could have been much worse, but Sidney Troutwine got her second double play of the game, doubling a runner off third after catching a line drive.
Dominique Findley hit the ball much better that night; she led off the fourth with a single, took second and third on wild pitches, and Payton Adwell hit a sacrifice fly to bring her home. The Tigers could have done much more damage, but once again, two called third strikes in the inning killed their chances. Instead of a tie game, Albany was up 7-5 and remained in control of the game.
Albany began pulling away at that point, scoring one in the fourth and one in the fifth to make it 9-5. Worth County responded as Adrian Fletchall recovered enough to go back into the game and hit a solid single to make it 9-6 in the sixth. Alysa Lyle, who hit the ball well all game, absolutely crushed a line drive, but it was right at the pitcher, who had the presence of mind to snare the ball and end the rally and give all the momentum back to Albany. The Warriors then proceeded to time and crush the ball in the bottom of the sixth to score four and make it 13-6. Sydney Thummel, playing second, caught a line drive and doubled a runner off first to keep Albany from winning by the ten run rule.
Nichole Aragon showed that her triple against North Nodaway was no accident as she crushed a double to the wall in right field to jump start a good inning for Worth County as they got a run across in the seventh. Brooklyn White, another newcomer, got another solid hit as she singled in Worth County's run in the inning. If the Tigers are to improve and start winning these sorts of games, it will take younger players stepping up and making plays.
The Tigers have two wins at this point and have to come together as a team if they are to navigate a tough schedule this week, with games against Gallatin and Jefferson coming up along with a long road trip to Braymer. The pitchers have to trust their fielders behind them to make plays and throw strikes and the fielders have to remain focused in the field when the pitchers are fighting the strike zone.
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