By Grant Barrett, Ad Astra Radio
McPHERSON, Kan. – It wasn’t the script that McPherson Softball Head Coach Danica Fitzmorris had written on Thursday, but nonetheless, her team was able to come away with a sweep of the Winfield Vikings at Grant Sports Complex.
With only one loss on the season, the Bullpups opened with four uncharacteristic errors in the first inning, as four unearned runs crossed the plate for the Vikings to begin the game. “I’m not going to lie, I’m a little disappointed with our defense.” said Coach Fitzmorris after the doubleheader, “We struggled in the first game, and I really considered our pitching would be better against this team but they proved us wrong, they hit well.”
The MHS defense settled in behind Addie Herrera, who completed six innings of work, striking out seven.
Fitzmorris said, “Part of the reason that we often don’t have defensive struggles is because we don’t get a lot of balls in play, and tonight the difference was – they put a lot of balls in play, so that proves to me that we’ve got to do some defensive work.”
Offensively, McPherson would get the bats going in the third thanks to an RBI-triple from Karter Alvord, which would be followed with an RBI-double by Reanna Eilrich, part of a four-run third inning.
Winfield would regain the lead before another four-run inning gave the Bullpups the momentum they needed to hold on, adding two runs in both the fifth and sixth. Addison Chapman was a perfect 5 for 5 at the plate, and was a double shy of hitting for the cycle. Haely Hagemann tallied a pair of doubles, while the Pups would collect 15 hits as a team in the 13-9 win.
“One thing I can say about these kids is that they don’t quit.” said Coach Fitzmorris, “I always feel confident in our offense knowing that we’re going to get some hits and be able to score. That’s kudos to our girls being able to do that.”
Overall Fitzmorris was proud of her team, but talked about a number of pop-ups at the plate offensively that she looks to cut down moving forward, saying, “I do feel like we’re dropping hands a little bit,” she said, “Sometimes we get a little greedy and want to swing for the fence, instead of getting a double or single and of moving our kids around.”
The Bullpup Softball team will now prepare for their upcoming quad on Tuesday, which features Emporia, Louisburg, and Derby. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Game 1: McPherson 13, Winfield 9
Batting:
A. Chapman 5-5 2 RBIs, 5R, HR
K. Bergstrom 0-5, RBI, 2R
S. Salmans 1-4, 2 RBI
H. Hagemann 2-3, BB, 2R
K. Alvord 3-4, 4 RBI, 1R
R. EIlrich 2-4, RBI
O. Cheatham 0-3
A. Romero 0-1
C. Pavlovich 0-3, R
C. Clevenger 2-4, 2R
Pitching:
A. Herrera 6.0 IP 9H 9R 5ER 3BB 7SO
A. Romero 1.0 IP 0H 0R 0ER 0BB 0 SO
Game 2: McPherson 13, Winfield 3
Batting:
A. Chapman 2-3, 3 RBIs, BB, 2R, HR
H. Hagemann 3-4, RBI, R
K. Alvord 1-4, R
S. Salmans 1-3, BB
A. Romero 0-0, R
R. Eilrich 2-3, RBI, 3R
K. Bergstrom 1-4, 3 RBIs
O. Cheatham 1-3, RBI, BB, 3R
C. Clevenger 1-3, 2 RBI, HR
Pitching:
A. Chapman 6.0 IP 5H 3R 3ER 5BB 10SO
