| Strikeouts, defensive lapses cost Riverdale softball |
By: By JOSH EZZELL - May 23, 2007 - 11:08 p.m.
|
|
 Email  Print
|
Picking up runners in scoring position and playing good defense are pivotal parts of softball.
To win, a team must take advantage of opportunities and must play sound defense. Riverdale had problems doing both Thursday against Soddy Daisy, which proved problematic.
As a result, Riverdale fell to Soddy Daisy 2-1 at Star*Plex in the winners' bracket and must face Mt. Juliet 10 a.m. Friday. If Riverdale wins, it faces Soddy Daisy 6:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady Warriors must beat Mt. Juliet and Soddy Daisy to force a game Saturday for the state title.
"We didn't do a good job on offense," said Riverdale coach Jeff Breeden, whose squad dropped to 50-5-1. "We didn't D it up. You've got to play good defense in a game of this caliber."
The Lady Warriors got the leadoff runner on base three times but produced only one run. They left eight runners on base — five in scoring position — and committed three errors.
Riverdale, which dropped a 10-inning heartbreaker to Soddy Daisy 4-3 last season in the sectionals, struck out 12 times and took six called strike threes.
"Anytime you get runners on base you've got to score," said Riverdale sophomore right fielder Alice O'Brien, who went 3-for-4 with three singles. "That's really important."
The biggest strikeout came in the seventh inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, sophomore designated player Bre Thomas, O'Brien and sophomore left fielder Kelsey Choate each singled, setting the table for senior shortstop Kelsey Woodruff. After a tough at-bat Soddy Daisy senior pitcher Nikki Waters, a Southern Illinois signee, got Woodruff looking to end the game with the bases loaded.
"We can't have it," Breeden said. "We've talked about not getting caught looking. We didn't execute our offense."
Defense harmed Riverdale in the first inning. Senior center fielder Lyndsey Stiles laid down a bunt single, but the throw to first by junior pitcher Cat Hosfield sailed into right field, and Stiles raced home for Soddy Daisy.
The Lady Warriors committed two errors in the seventh, prolonging the inning.
"We had to push and come back," O'Brien said. "It's kind of hard to do."
Sophomore center fielder Ashia Terry drove in Riverdale's lone run in the fourth inning when she scored Woodruff with a ground-rule double to right field.
Hosfield (44-4) struck out 15 and surrendered six hits in the losing effort. She moved into second place for most strikeouts in a season nationally. She needs nine strikeouts for the national record, which was set by former Grissom High (Huntsville, Ala.) and current Auburn University pitcher Anna Thompson.
|
|
Related Articles
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Login and voice your opinion!
|
Digg
Facebook
MySpace
Yahoo!