The team shook off the fact that the game was changed from a home game to having to go on the road. The West Potomac home field is still so wet from the rain and snow that scientists are looking to transport it to California, wring it out, and single-handedly solve the Golden State's drought problem.
Starting pitcher Jayne Orleans scattered two hits in six innings of work for the win before Cristina Dillard came in to pitch a scoreless seventh inning. While Jayne struck out seven batters, and Christina whiffed three, the key number for the game was one -- that's the number of free passes the two West Po pitchers issued for the game.
Meanwhile, after the offense left four runners on base in the first two innings, including three with no outs in the second, the Wolverines scored in four of the next five innings to slowly leave the Mt. Vernon team behind.
Doing the job of a lead-off hitter: Nikki Minnis
reached base three of her five plate appearances
Raven Williams got the first Wolverine hit of the game in the second inning with a lead-off ringing double to deep center, but she died at third base (for those new to baseball cliches, don't fret -- she didn't actually "die" at third base -- that probably would have postponed the game; it just means she didn't score).
West Potomac finally broke through with two in the third. Grace Moery smacked an infield single down the line, and Annabelle Miller moved her to third with another Wolverine double to deep center. (After that, the Mt. Vernon centerfielder stayed deep.) Raven loaded the bases with an infield single. That apparently became the thing to do, as Kate Gregory knocked in Raven with an infield single, and Torie Bolger did the same to drive in Annabelle. The score was 2-0 after the top of the third.
Scoring two runs was so much fun that the Wolverines did it again in the bottom of the 4th, as Nikki Minnis led off with a walk, followed by hard-hit double to left by Grace. Jayne helped her own cause with a slow roller out to first that scored a run. Annabelle reached first on a error by the pitcher as Grace scooted across the plate with the fourth run of the game.
The Wolverines had strong catcher
play from Torie Bolger and
Harley Divine
After a scoreless top of the fifth, the Wolverines added a run with two singles and two wild pitches. Nikki led off with a single, took second on the first wild pitch, but had to hang there while Grace hit an infield single to short. Both runners advanced on a good piece of situational hitting by Jayne Orleans, who hit a soft groundout to 2nd to advance the runners. Nikki scored on a wild pitch to stretch the lead to 5-0.
The game was busted wide open in the top of the seventh, as West Potomac plated three runs without an RBI to push the lead to 8-0. Raven led off with another hit, a single to center, followed by a walk to Kate. Harley Divine also walked, Izzy Crawn reached on an error by the shortstop, and then some weird stuff happened where Wolverines were running around the bases and umpires were randomly calling some out and not others. I could describe what happened, but it doesn't really matter -- there is no instant replay in high school softball like there is in the major leagues. Suffice it to say, Grace had another hit taken away on a call made by an umpire who was blocked from seeing that she had beaten the throw by two steps.
Annabelle followed this plate
appearance her next time
up with a double.
The team's play was solid, but Coach Craig "The Big Manig" Maniglia and his staff of fine assistants will probably spend some time at this weekend's team retreat explaining the finer points of base running after the Wolverines made at least four mistakes on the base paths during the game. (Prediction: two of his teaching points will be: "don't let the ball hit you" and "don't crosscheck the shortstop while she is fielding the ball.")
The team also made three errors in the field, a number sure to be cut down in the coming weeks. There were also some fine fielding plays, although no jaw-dropping web gems. Kate snagged a hard liner at second, Annabelle threw out a runner with a strong throw on a slow roller, and Raven made a nice play on a hard grounder. There were no outfield putouts in the game -- which underscores how well Jayne kept the Mt. Vernon off-balance.
Wolverine Whispers: The tablesetters -- Nikki and Grace -- reached base an impressive six times during the game, which could equal in one game the number of times the numbers one and two hitters of my suddenly weak New York Yankees do all season. . .The Wolverine pitchers bookended the game by inducing outs on a change-up -- Jayne got the lead-off hitter to pop out with one, and Christina ended the game with a 42-foot change-up for a swinging strike three. . .thanks to Cindy Jackson for taking the game photos before her camera battery died. . .West Potomac hosts the W.T. Woodson Cavaliers on Tuesday for the next game.
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