Softball: Hawks Lose by Inches to Hyde Park, 8-7

A game of inches would be a literal assessment of Tuesday’s night loss to Hyde Park at the CL’s Softball

Short Stop Vicky Henderson

Two batters reached base on errors with two base hits and a walk that left two runners stranded after a ground out to the Panther third baseman. The inning did have two scores but after Vicky Henderson was called out on a slide at third left the Hawks having to claw to get in scoring position again.

That out on third would of been the tying run.

Hyde Park is a TAPPS IV school and has a good ball club, but now CL wishes they had another chance at this Panther club after getting so close for a game that looked to be a runaway.

The Panthers started the first inning with a three run home run and then added another four spot in the top of the third inning for a 7 run lead.

Canyon Lake finally scored some runs in the third giving a sense vulnerability to this Panther team.

Spark plug, McKenna Beseda started this inning reaching base on a fielding error. The Hawks finished this game with a total of six batters getting on base in this same manner.

Liliemae Daily would reach base with a walk and then Brianna Young was hit by a pitch. Three runners on without a base hit to show for it.

Enter Cassidy Riccio who would get the Hawk’s second hit of the game and driving in two runners. Cameron Berger would also reach base on an error but in so doing drove in the final run in this inning.

A 7-3 score sounded much better and after giving up just one more run in the fourth, CL’s Pitcher Alexis Robinson would finally start finding her groove and not any more runs at her expense.

A shout out to Centerfielder Beseda who gunned down a base runner at the plate would also need to be factored in on keeping this score within striking range.

Ten of the next 11 Panther batters would not reach base which in turn allowed a comeback that was short by just inches.

“We didn’t quit and we had a good comeback,” Head Coach John Gallagher commented. “We can’t allow ourselves to get down by seven runs.”

There were several bright spots in this loss with several players that had some slumbering bats waking up.

Riccio had a sharp base hit driving in those first runs and Vicky Henderson driving a double in the gap and then not being cheated at the plate in this game was an encouraging sign.

“I have been working on getting my hands quicker and getting my bat around,” V. Henderson said with confidence. “I am needing to get hands and eyes on the ball. We need to start off the game earlier and not wait till the end of a game.”

On what has happened for Henderson’s new found confidence at the plate, “Try to see the ball and get my bat on it, but just seeing the ball is what I’m concentrating on.”

Yes, it was a loss, but what this team is building might not be ready to be finished until the start of district play.

This game allowed CL to know that being down seven runs is not a sure loss and that not quitting can result in different results next time.

“Consistency and hitting,” Coach Gallagher mentioned when asked what the Hawks need to accomplish with their last games before district play starts.

Hitting is a huge improvement since every ball put in play has a chance of getting a runner on base.  Leaving 11 base runners stranded was a major downfall in this contest.

Those nine errors on this Panther team almost allowed for those games of inches to become yards of smiles.

Can hardly wait to see what this team will and can do next in realizing a chance of pulling off their next game.

               1  2  3  4  5  6  7  R  H  E
 Hyde Park     3  0  4  1  0  0  0  8  7  9
 Canyon Lake   0  0  3  0  0  2  2  7  6  3
 LOB: HP-6, CL-12. 2B-Vicky Henderson. E-Liz Henderson,
 Vicky Henderson, Kelsey Ahrens.

 name                ab  r  h bi 2b bb so  misc.
 Alexis Robinson      5  0  1  0  0  0  3
 McKenna Beseda       4  2  1  1  0  1  0  roe
 Lilimae Daily        3  1  0  0  0  2  1  roe
 Kelsey Ahrens        4  0  1  0  0  0  0  roe
 Briana Young         1  0  0  0  0  1  1  hbp
  pr Kirsten Jones    0  1  0  0  0  0  0
 Cassidy Riccio       3  0  1  2  0  0  2
 Cameron Berger       2  0  0  1  0  0  1  roe
  ph Tiare Kacir      1  1  1  0  0  1  0
 Lillie Sander        2  0  0  0  0  0  2
 Christina Rider      2  0  0  0  0  0  1  roe
  pr Sharon Alexander 0  1  0  0  0  0  0
 Vicky Henderson      2  1  1  1  1  1  0  roe
 Liz Henderson        0  0  0  0  0  0  0
 Totals              29  7  6  5  1  6 11

 pitching           ip  r er  h bb so  np  misc
 Alexis Robinson     7  8  3  7  4  8 111  wp (2)

 Balls/Strikes: Robinson 40/71