RSS Feed |
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Lady 'Birds topple Terry, show bat power
The Lady 'Birds topped Terry 15-4 in a game that featured some major bats. The Lady 'Birds' offensive explosion was complete with a home run that sailed over the fence and struck El Campo's bus in the parking lot. It was senior Alexis Cooper who hit the big shot in the seventh inning. Her hit cleared the left-center field fence and made a resounding clang against the yellow school bus. After the win, she said she felt Head Coach Shane Wagner parked there for a purpose. "I said it before the game, I'm not going to lie, 'He parked that bus there for a reason and somebody is going to hit it tonight,'" Cooper said. "I was ready. "I was really looking for Angela (Fiala) or Lindsey (Marik) to hit it. I didn't expect it to be me at all, so I was like, 'Yes, it hit the bus.' Being my second home run, hopefully there's a dent in it and I can sign it or something."
"I did," he said. "Every year, I park it right there in left-center field and I said, 'It's a target for ya'll.' I don't condone swinging for the fence, but I always give them a target out there. That was actually not the first home run we hit on this field, but the first home run that actually hit the bus." Though the Lady 'Birds earned a nine-run victory, it was not until late that the team began hitting consistently. The problem may have involved Terry's pitching. The Lady Rangers walked many El Campo batters and had a hard time finding the strike zone. In the late innings, however, El Campo came on strong for a good finish. El Campo's starting pitcher, Emily Bergstrom, recognized the offense for its strong play late in the game. "(Wagner) had us take the first strike for a while," Bergstrom said. "He kind of let us go for a minute and I think we went wild. We stepped back and started really hitting it, which is what we should have done earlier."
In the top of the first inning, Anna Raun and Brittney Oates both walked. After the next two batters earned outs, Danielle Smith followed with a big hit. The center fielder sent a deep blast that bounced out of the Terry right fielder's glove and almost went over the fence. Raun and Oates came home on the play while Smith claimed second base. Terry managed a run in the bottom of the first on an El Campo error, but the Lady 'Birds came back with four runs in the second inning toi go up 6-1. Bergstrom singled up the thirdbase line and Gabby Macias came in to run for her. Kristi Michaelsen walked to put runners on first and second base. Marik connected for a ground ball to the shortstop. She was thrown out at first, but the hit sent Macias home. Raun and Oates both walked to load the bases. Fiala followed with a walk to bring in another run. With the bases loaded and one out, Cooper made the first of her big hits. She blasted the ball to the left field fence for a double that was almost a home run. Two runs came in on her at-bat and by the last out, El Campo was ahead 6-1. With two outs in the fourth, Hayley Pierce drew a walk, Bergstrom followed with a single and Michaelsen walked to load the bases. Marik bouncied a hit past Terry's shortstop into left field to bring in two runs, giving El Campo an 8-1 lead. The Lady Rangers scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut El Campo's lead to 8-4. Bergstrom showed great confidence in El Campo's defense and was able to finish the inning with a strikeout. "(It helped) just knowing that I have eight other girls out there with me on the field," Bergstrom said. "If one of us falls, another one will pick us up. That's how it works." In the sixth inning Marik earned an RBI on a looper to right-center field. Her hit brought in Macias on a pinch run to put El Campo ahead 9-4. In the seventh inning, the Lady 'Birds scored six runs. Oates led off with a single and Fiala followed with a walk. The next at-bat was Cooper's big home run. "I don't look at the defense before I hit," Cooper said. "So, when they told me that (the left fielder) was at the fence again, I was like, 'No way.' When I looked, I was just trying to take off. I see a ball and maybe it's close. I took off and I thought she caught it. Then everybody starts screaming and I'm like, 'What?'" That shot brought in three runs for El Campo. Smith followed with a double and after the next batter earned an out, Bergstrom hit a single to left field and brought Smith home. Marik and Oates hit the last two RBIs and helped El Campo to the 15-4 win. "I give it to the team," Cooper said of the strong offensive showing. "We finally came around and I hope we can get passed it, hit every inning and have good hits - not just home runs but line drives, RBIs and keep it going to have an awesome game fully." The win puts El Campo at 1-0 in district play and 13-4-1 on the season. Though the Lady 'Birds had a great record going into the game with Terry, the team knew this was a must-win game. "This one was really good because, like Coach Wagner said, it was the first one that really counted," Bergstrom said. "I'm pretty sure we got some district jitters out of the way, I guess you could say, because I'm pretty sure that's what some of that stuff was tonight. It's really big. We started off on a good note." The Lady 'Birds traveled to Bay City Friday to take on the Lady Blackcats. El Campo's schedule has had a bit of a change due to light repairs. The Lady 'Birds will play all of their district games on the road until April 5. LADY 'BIRD STATS
EC Hitting Alexis Cooper - 5 at-bats, 2 hits, 5 RBIs Lindsey Marik - 5 at-bats, 3 hits, 6 RBIs Danielle Smith - 5 at-bats, 2 hits, 2 RBIs |
for larger version       Ads have a Patent Pending. Click Here for More Information |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
