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American Chronicle | Bears get into swing
On the ride to Maryland School for the Deaf on Tuesday, Oakdale softball coach Joe Whipp noticed the bus had grown eerily quiet. It was a bit unusual for a team that is normally upbeat and outgoing.
"They are a very fun group to be around. They like to kid with each other," Whipp said. "And, when I didn't see that on the bus, I was a little nervous about what we were going to come out and do."
The Bears were about to play the first game in program history. Some of the players on the team had never played organized softball. Others had very little experience. It was going to take at least a few swings for the jitters to go away.
But after seven innings that included more good plays than bad, the Bears were pretty excited about the first step they had just taken.
"I think it's really great that we won this game," said sophomore Kelly Barnhard, the team's second baseman who delivered three hits and an RBI in Oakdale's 6-5 victory over MSD.
"To go forward and have confidence with a win on our shoulders already, it says we can win on the varsity level."
The Bears know there will be some tough days ahead. As a group of freshmen and sophomores taking on a varsity schedule, most of the games they will play this season will be against teams that are considerably older, bigger, faster, stronger and more experienced.
But, for one game anyway, they proved they could do the things necessary to win games.
They delivered timely hits, overcame a slew of fielding errors and came through each time the situation called for it. When MSD (1-2) scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, the Bears responded with three in the top of the seventh.
As Whipp points out, it will be a matter of learning to do all of these things better and more consistently.
"We have quite a bit of work to do," he said. "But we've only had three weeks to be together."
Oakdale got an effective outing from starting pitcher Ciara Whipp, the coach's daughter. She struck out 13, allowed four hits and gave up only one earned run over seven complete innings.
Whipp also drove in the winning run with a one-out single in the seventh, scoring Kayla Holman, who doubled.
"I knew I had to get a hit," Whipp said. "I wasn't trying to jack the ball over the fence or anything. I just needed to get on and get the run in."
Freshman catcher Tori Leggieri followed Whipp's single with one of her own that scored two insurance runs. They were important because MSD rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run on second with one of its best hitters, Christy Hediger, at the plate.
The Orioles twice rallied from deficits to tie the game. They scored two unearned runs in the fourth to pull even and then got an RBI double from Liv Polzin in the sixth to knot the game at three.
"I am proud of the girls," MSD coach Mathis Hediger said. "I believe they are getting better day by day."
Just when it looked like the Bears had built enough of a cushion in the top of the seventh on Leggieri's second and third RBIs of the day, MSD made them sweat it out.
But Whipp got Hediger to ground out to freshman shortstop Jess Coggins and Oakdale softball took its first official step forward.
Ciara Whipp and her father admitted they had become nervous in the seventh before that final out went into the books. But Ciara said, "I had faith in my team."
On the ride to Maryland School for the Deaf on Tuesday, Oakdale softball coach Joe Whipp noticed the bus had grown eerily quiet. It was a bit unusual for a team that is normally upbeat and outgoing.
"They are a very fun group to be around. They like to kid with each other," Whipp said. "And, when I didn't see that on the bus, I was a little nervous about what we were going to come out and do."
The Bears were about to play the first game in program history. Some of the players on the team had never played organized softball. Others had very little experience. It was going to take at least a few swings for the jitters to go away.
But after seven innings that included more good plays than bad, the Bears were pretty excited about the first step they had just taken.
"I think it's really great that we won this game," said sophomore Kelly Barnhard, the team's second baseman who delivered three hits and an RBI in Oakdale's 6-5 victory over MSD.
"To go forward and have confidence with a win on our shoulders already, it says we can win on the varsity level."
The Bears know there will be some tough days ahead. As a group of freshmen and sophomores taking on a varsity schedule, most of the games they will play this season will be against teams that are considerably older, bigger, faster, stronger and more experienced.
But, for one game anyway, they proved they could do the things necessary to win games.
They delivered timely hits, overcame a slew of fielding errors and came through each time the situation called for it. When MSD (1-2) scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game, the Bears responded with three in the top of the seventh.
As Whipp points out, it will be a matter of learning to do all of these things better and more consistently.
"We have quite a bit of work to do," he said. "But we've only had three weeks to be together."
Oakdale got an effective outing from starting pitcher Ciara Whipp, the coach's daughter. She struck out 13, allowed four hits and gave up only one earned run over seven complete innings.
Whipp also drove in the winning run with a one-out single in the seventh, scoring Kayla Holman, who doubled.
"I knew I had to get a hit," Whipp said. "I wasn't trying to jack the ball over the fence or anything. I just needed to get on and get the run in."
Freshman catcher Tori Leggieri followed Whipp's single with one of her own that scored two insurance runs. They were important because MSD rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run on second with one of its best hitters, Christy Hediger, at the plate.
The Orioles twice rallied from deficits to tie the game. They scored two unearned runs in the fourth to pull even and then got an RBI double from Liv Polzin in the sixth to knot the game at three.
"I am proud of the girls," MSD coach Mathis Hediger said. "I believe they are getting better day by day."
Just when it looked like the Bears had built enough of a cushion in the top of the seventh on Leggieri's second and third RBIs of the day, MSD made them sweat it out.
But Whipp got Hediger to ground out to freshman shortstop Jess Coggins and Oakdale softball took its first official step forward.
Ciara Whipp and her father admitted they had become nervous in the seventh before that final out went into the books. But Ciara said, "I had faith in my team."