Lady 'Cats move to 2-0 this season
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MOWRYSTOWN — The start of the 2014 season for the Whiteoak Lady Wildcats has been one of success through the first two games as they won their second consecutive game by a 9-1 score over the West Union Lady Dragons.
Whiteoak not only won their home opener on Tuesday, but they won their Southern Hills Athletic Conference opener all in the same day.
WHS (2-0) didn't play their best softball early on, but they came to life in the fourth inning, breaking a 1-1 tied score by plating seven runs in the fourth inning for what was then an 8-1 advantage.
"Tuesday, the girls came out and they did awesome," WHS head coach Trisha Hauke said. "They're hitting the ball. The big thing with these girls is they were nervous at first. They weren't playing to the best of their ability at first because of the nerves.
"For it being the opener at home, they just had to get the jitters out. Once they got the jitters out of the way, that's when they started scoring runs and running bases like they know how to."
The visiting Lady Dragons scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning as Cierra Barr led off the game by taking first on an infield error, eventually taking home on a second error for the unearned run.
That was all the Lady 'Cats allowed their visiting counterpart to score all game long.
WHS came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the second with a leadoff home run by junior Kiley Sosby over the left field fence on an 0-1 count.
The swing of the bat by Sosby (along with her pitching) energized the Lady 'Cats to put on a scoring display in the bottom of the fourth, as they put up an aforementioned seven runs.
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WHS began the inning with freshman Alexis Jones taking first on a hit, followed by sophomore Kayla Smallwood batting in Jones for a 2-1 advantage.
Sosby followed with a walk, as did Morgan Thompson, to load the bases with no outs.
Following the first out, the Lady 'Cats took a two-run lead with Hayley Nace reaching first on an infield error, scoring Smallwood.
As the inning continued, Jaycie Parr had an RBI, as did Ashleigh Harless, who had a two-RBI double to the left field wall.
"Ashleigh had a big hit for us, a really big hit," Hauke said. "She had been struggling at the beginning and then as far as Lexie goes, she's a freshman. She was really nervous at first because this is the first time for her ever playing on this field, and for her being a freshman coming out starting, she did some awesome things.
"Jaycie Parr, she's another freshman for us. She came out and she's only been back about 10 days. She was injured and she came back and swung the bat hard."
Also scoring runs in the inning were Sosby, Thompson, Nace, Jaycie Parr, Harless and Caitlyn Arledge.
The final WHS run came in the fifth inning with Sosby scoring her third run of the SHAC contest, crossing home plate on an infield groundout by Thompson, gaining an RBI in the process.
Sosby was the winning pitcher, striking out 14 batters on the day. The junior pitched a complete game as she allowed one unearned run on three hits and no walks. She struck out the side in the first and seventh innings and two batters in the second, third and fourth innings.
Sosby stuck out at least one batter in every inning.
In their first game of the season on Monday, WHS defeated Paint Valley, 2-0 at PVHS.
Both WHS runs came in the third inning by Harless and Jaycie Parr, with RBIs from Harless and Smallwood.
Sosby was the winning pitcher as she struck out 20 batters, including four batters in the fourth inning, with what would have been the third out reaching base on an infield error.
The junior pitcher retired the first 11 batters of the game before the 12th batter reached on the aforementioned error.
Sosby struck out the side in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth innings. PV's lone hit came in the sixth inning as they sent 22 batters to the plate. Only two of the outs came on groundouts.
"(Monday) was our first game that we got to play and the girls came out and they were ready to play," Hauke said. "Sosby had 20 strikeouts out of 22 batters. We had one dropped ball. That was her personal best, so she broke her own record there."
WHS is scheduled to host Adena on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in non-conference play.
Whiteoak not only won their home opener on Tuesday, but they won their Southern Hills Athletic Conference opener all in the same day.
WHS (2-0) didn't play their best softball early on, but they came to life in the fourth inning, breaking a 1-1 tied score by plating seven runs in the fourth inning for what was then an 8-1 advantage.
"Tuesday, the girls came out and they did awesome," WHS head coach Trisha Hauke said. "They're hitting the ball. The big thing with these girls is they were nervous at first. They weren't playing to the best of their ability at first because of the nerves.
"For it being the opener at home, they just had to get the jitters out. Once they got the jitters out of the way, that's when they started scoring runs and running bases like they know how to."
The visiting Lady Dragons scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning as Cierra Barr led off the game by taking first on an infield error, eventually taking home on a second error for the unearned run.
That was all the Lady 'Cats allowed their visiting counterpart to score all game long.
WHS came back with a run of their own in the bottom of the second with a leadoff home run by junior Kiley Sosby over the left field fence on an 0-1 count.
The swing of the bat by Sosby (along with her pitching) energized the Lady 'Cats to put on a scoring display in the bottom of the fourth, as they put up an aforementioned seven runs.
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WHS began the inning with freshman Alexis Jones taking first on a hit, followed by sophomore Kayla Smallwood batting in Jones for a 2-1 advantage.
Sosby followed with a walk, as did Morgan Thompson, to load the bases with no outs.
Following the first out, the Lady 'Cats took a two-run lead with Hayley Nace reaching first on an infield error, scoring Smallwood.
As the inning continued, Jaycie Parr had an RBI, as did Ashleigh Harless, who had a two-RBI double to the left field wall.
"Ashleigh had a big hit for us, a really big hit," Hauke said. "She had been struggling at the beginning and then as far as Lexie goes, she's a freshman. She was really nervous at first because this is the first time for her ever playing on this field, and for her being a freshman coming out starting, she did some awesome things.
"Jaycie Parr, she's another freshman for us. She came out and she's only been back about 10 days. She was injured and she came back and swung the bat hard."
Also scoring runs in the inning were Sosby, Thompson, Nace, Jaycie Parr, Harless and Caitlyn Arledge.
The final WHS run came in the fifth inning with Sosby scoring her third run of the SHAC contest, crossing home plate on an infield groundout by Thompson, gaining an RBI in the process.
Sosby was the winning pitcher, striking out 14 batters on the day. The junior pitched a complete game as she allowed one unearned run on three hits and no walks. She struck out the side in the first and seventh innings and two batters in the second, third and fourth innings.
Sosby stuck out at least one batter in every inning.
In their first game of the season on Monday, WHS defeated Paint Valley, 2-0 at PVHS.
Both WHS runs came in the third inning by Harless and Jaycie Parr, with RBIs from Harless and Smallwood.
Sosby was the winning pitcher as she struck out 20 batters, including four batters in the fourth inning, with what would have been the third out reaching base on an infield error.
The junior pitcher retired the first 11 batters of the game before the 12th batter reached on the aforementioned error.
Sosby struck out the side in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth innings. PV's lone hit came in the sixth inning as they sent 22 batters to the plate. Only two of the outs came on groundouts.
"(Monday) was our first game that we got to play and the girls came out and they were ready to play," Hauke said. "Sosby had 20 strikeouts out of 22 batters. We had one dropped ball. That was her personal best, so she broke her own record there."
WHS is scheduled to host Adena on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in non-conference play.