Washington comes from behind to beat Lady Tigers

The McClain varsity softball team suffered a disappointing loss Monday night to Frontier Athletic Conference rival Washington by a 11-7 score in Greenfield on Daryle Unger Field.

Things looked good early for the Lady Tigers when they plated three runs in the bottom of the first inning for a 3-0 advantage.

Lindsey Hutchinson led off drawing a walk and scored one out later on an RBI double by Olivia Stegbauer. Stegbauer came around to score on another run-scoring double by Leah Lovett, and Lovett scored on McClain’s third straight double, this one by Kenzie Wise.

McClain starting pitcher Gracie Bowers pitched very well over the first couple of innings, giving up no runs and allowing only one hit. But things quickly changed in the top of the third when Bowers gave up two runs, and the Lady Blue Lions were back in the game, trailing 3-2.

McClain answered the Washington rally by adding three more runs in the bottom of the third to push the lead back to four at 6-2. 

But the fourth inning proved to be the difference in the game, when the Lady Blue Lions scored seven runs and took a 9-6 lead.

The McClain coaches opted to make a pitching change in the top of the inning when they brought in Brie Cummins to relieve Bowers on the mound. Cummins struggled with her control and walked in a run without retiring a batter, and Bowers was brought back in to attempt to stop the huge Washington scoring opportunity.

Despite seven runs being scored, Bowers pitched well and worked hard to prevent even more runs from scoring.

“We felt like we needed to make a pitching change in the fourth inning, but the move really backfired on us,” McClain head coach Molly Stegbauer said. “I thought Gracie (Bowers) came back into the game in a tough situation and did a pretty good job of digging her way out of a really big jam.”

McClain got a run back in the bottom half of the fourth inning when Hutchinson scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Stegbauer trimming the deficit to 9-7.

Washington played add on in the top of the fifth scoring two more runs on three hits two of which were bloop singles.

The Lady Tigers, who had scored lots of runs in all five of their ball games this year, really struggled at the plate over the final three innings with just three hits and no runs scorings.

“This game really just came down to errors, body language, attitude and our failure to finish the game,” Stegbauer said. “We tend to get down on ourselves sometimes, and then it becomes a domino effect, but I think they’re working hard to get past that.

“Gracie (Bowers) deserved better tonight. She has been a constant for us in the circle and delivers the ball with good control while doing her job well. Now everyone else needs to step up and work harder on eliminating mistakes and doing their part.”

The Lady Tigers, now 1-4, continue to hit the ball well, collecting 14 hits while scoring seven runs, which most of the time is enough to win games.

Leading batters in the game for McClain were Stegbauer and Lovett, who both went 3-for-4 with a double and two singles each.

The Lady Tigers are next scheduled to host Eastern Brown Friday, April 5, before playing Fairfield and Paint Valley in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 6 at Fairfield (weather permitting).

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