By Ben Keller
UCA Sportswriting
The St. Joseph softball Lady Bulldogs could not hold up to the Magnet Cove Lady Panthers’ pitching Friday in a 12-6 loss in Conway.
Lady Panther pitcher Erin Pankey pitched all seven innings and allowed four hits with 10 strikeouts. The Lady Bulldogs started with Jordan Hess on the mound but brought in third baseman/pitcher Amy Schichtl in the third inning to finish the game.
Despite the loss, Schichtl said she was still proud of the way she and the team played.
“I didn’t feel like my pitching was the best, but I could hear my team in the background cheering me on and that always helps me on the mound,” she said.
Schichtl had two strikeouts and allowed six hits.
The Lady Panthers came out swinging in the top of the first and scored four runs to start the game. Their first four batters got on base, one because of the first error of the game. Lady Bulldogs shortstop Morgan Kordsmeier committed a fielding error that allowed Lady Panthers shortstop Jessica Tuggle to score. The Lady Bulldogs were plagued by errors throughout the game, committing seven.
Coach Lisa Bates said it was a rough day defensively for her team and that recent weather had put a damper on the team’s practice schedule.
“We were kind of rusty out there,” she said. “We have lost a lot of practice time because of the rain and most of the girls were gone because of spring break. You have to hand it to Magnet Cove, though. We knew they were a strong team and they were going to be coming in strong. They are by far the best team in our district and in our conference. We boggled it a little out in the field and our hitting wasn’t what it could have been, but the girls didn’t get down and they pushed through when they could’ve given up.”
The Lady Bulldogs were finally able to put a stop to the inning after catching two routine fly balls and forcing a runner out at third.
The Lady Panthers went scoreless in the bottom of the first and allowed the Lady Panthers to score two more runs in the top of the second, but during the bottom of the second, the Lady Bulldogs rallied and pulled within one.
The Lady Bulldogs batted around during the inning, but Schichtl started things off for her team with a hard line-drive single over the left side. Kordsmeier hit a pop-up to the pitcher for the first out of the inning, but during Katie Halter’s at bat, the Lady Panthers committed their first error of the game that could have gotten them out of the inning. Halter hit a hard grounder to Tuggle, who was prepared to make the throw to second and force an out, but second baseman Shelby Stone was not at second to make the catch. The Lady Panthers missed an opportunity for a double play, allowed Halter to reach safely and advanced the runners.
First baseman Megan Briggler recorded the first RBI for the Lady Bulldogs with a hard grounder that made it through the left side to bring in Schitchtl. The Lady Panthers walked several of the Lady Bulldogs and even walked in a run. The Lady Panthers put a stop to the Bulldog rally by striking out Schichtl for a third out during her second at bat for the inning.
Bates said that inning was huge for her team and showed just how contagious hitting can be in softball.
“They kind of feed off each other when they get going," she said. "That is probably our biggest strength in our team. “When we can get our bats going, get our short game up and the girls running, we are pretty aggressive. We have a lot of speed and if we can get that going, they will feed off of it.”
The Lady Bulldogs only scored one more run during the remainder of the game, while the Lady Panthers kept finding gaps in the St. Joe defense and kept scoring runs. Lady Panthers third baseman Laney Gibson and left fielder Ashton Wilburn led their team in hits with three each. Schichtl led the Lady Bulldogs with two hits over four at bats.
The Lady Bulldogs are now 3-2 for the season.
Lady Panthers 4 2 1 2 0 1 2 – 12 13 2
Lady Bulldogs 0 5 0 0 0 0 1 – 6 4 7
Pankey and Gibson; Jo. Hess, Schichtl (3) and Ja. Hess.
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