Lady Buffs Softball falls to SES

Game 1

SES 18

RCHS 0

Opening our season with a loss was not the way the Lady Buffs wanted to start, but you have to start somewhere.  Kayla Sly started her pitching career tonight and as every young pitcher does, put herself into some tough situations.  It is very important to be aggressive and throw strikes to the lead off hitter so it doesn’t put pressure on the defense to have to think about situation.  Each inning we let the lead batter get on base (except the 4^th inning) and that means right off we now worry about how we are going to try and get two people out when we should just focus on the situation.  First set of games out are very tough when you are young team trying to see where we fit in.  SES is a very good program and well coached.  From the plate we struggled because Conley is a very good pitcher and she was able to pitch from a lead right off the bat.  Miranda Cottenmyer got the only hit in the game and we were not able to score her.  I am sure to the girls it was frustrating but we move on.

Game 2

SES 16

RCHS 1

Each night out we play double headers and after taking a loss like we did, it is hard to put it out of your mind.  Joni Sheets was pitching in her first High School game and started off good.  Once again the lead off batter was on base everytime putting a lot of stress on our defense to make plays.  We have to get to where we are throwing a lot of strikes and let the defense play behind us and we will- it will just take time.  Defensively we are making errors that we need to eliminate to take the pressure of our pitcher, so as a team we need to help each other out.  From the plate, we got more aggressive and that is good to see.  Early season is about getting back at it and swing the bat.  Pitchers you face in High School are not going to walk you- they are throwing a lot of strikes and we have to understand that and use it to our advantage. 

Even though in the two loss, it looks like nothing well happen, that is not the case.  Michelle Cottenmyer has made herself known and will be a great short stop or 3 rd base person.  I was encouraged to see the young hitters staying in there and getting their cuts against a very good pitcher.  With Miranda Cottenmyer getting injuried we have to find a replacement and Danielle Roush did a good job.  Miranda will be missed but these things happen and we move forward and not worry about yesterday but about tomorrow.  I know early season is going to be tough and we could take a couple of bad beats but the end of the season is when we need to be on top of our game. 

Next games are at home on Thursday at 4:45 start time with the second game to follow.  Marysville will bring a young but very talented group over.  Seeing Marysville now will give us a good idea of where we need to be a regional time as they will be one of the top teams there.  We will continue to improve each day and see where we end up