Lady Wave Softball
Published 12:00 am Friday, August 6, 2010
By Brad Greer
Something had to give as undefeated North Delta entertained four-time defending Class A State champion Bayou in fastpitch softball play Monday afternoon in the Lady Green Wave’s home opener.
The contest turned out to be a pitchers’ duel between Bayou’s Kylie Weeks and North Delta senior right-hander Mary Jane Morrow. Both hurlers went the full six innings, but an unearned run turned out to be the deciding factor as the Colts pushed their record to 5-0 on the young season with a 3-2 victory.
With the Colts leading 2-0 in the fifth inning, Carley Peden led off the frame by reaching on an error and then advancing to second on a wild pitch. Then with two outs, Peden scored what proved to be the winning run on another error by the Green Wave defense.
North Delta made things interesting in the top of the sixth as Erin Snider coaxed a one-out walk off Weeks. After Maribeth Johns fanned for out number two, Laci DuBravec smashed a deep fly ball into the center field gap that resulted in a two-run inside-the-park home run to cut the Colt lead to 3-2. Weeks however regained her composure to strike out Madison Greenlee to end the game.
“The girls kept pecking away there in the sixth inning and hit the ball and we almost pulled out a win. We have got a young team that I hope will improve each and every game,” said North Delta first-year head coach Damon Plummer. “Weeks is one of the best pitchers we will face all season and to have a chance to win the game there at the end speaks volume for this program and these kids. We just have to learn from it and get ready for district play when it gets here.”
North Delta missed a golden opportunity to get on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Morrow reached base on a one-out error only to have courtesy runner Anna Lloyd get thrown out at second on an attempted steal for out number two. Consecutive singles by leadoff batter Vicki Johnson and Julianna Morrow put runners on the corners with two away only to have Hastings Neal popup to the short stop in the inning. North Delta stranded six runners on base during the game including three in scoring position.
“It was my fault on Anna getting thrown out at second. It was my call,” said Plummer. “Vicki normally swings at everything and we were hoping to get a little bit of distraction there but their catcher made a good throw.”
Bayou jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third as Stormy Eubanks and Lauren Bailey delivered a pair of two-out singles before Taylor Hackney smacked a double down the left field line to score both runners.
Both teams collected four hits in the game as DuBravec led North Delta at the plate with a homerun and a single while Julianna Morrow and Johnson added singles. Mary Jane Morrow was tagged with the loss despite giving up three runs (two earned) while striking out four and walking two.
North Delta will play today and tomorrow in the Kirk tournament. Tonight they play at 8:30 p.m. and Saturday at 9 or 11 a.m. depending on whether they win or lose. The Lady Green Wave kick off district play Tuesday at Kirk at 5 p.m. with the varsity.