By Mark Carpenter
Like everyone else last Saturday, it was the first time on the field for the West Union Lady Dragons softball squad as they hosted the Western Latham Lady Indians in a season-opening doubleheader, consisting of a pair of five-inning contests. Two years removed, it was the beginning of a new era for West Union softball under new head coach Hayleigh Worley and the Lady Dragons gave their new coach a victory in her first game as they blanked the Lady Indians 9-0 in the opener of the twin bill. Game two didn’t go quite as planned as Western rebounded for a 10-2 win and a split for the day.
“The first game we looked awesome, everything we’ve worked for since September,” said Coach worley. “The second game we laid an egg. We seemed to get overconfident and a bit lackadaisical and we didn’t look like the same team, no energy and flat.”
The new-look Lady Dragons were solid in game one, getting a three-hit shutout from sophomore pitcher Carly Leonard and taking a lead in their first at-bat and never giving it up. The first inning was a scary one for Leonard as she walked the bases full after the first two hitter were retired, but got the final out on an infield ground out to keep the visitors off the board.
In the bottom of the first, the Lady Dragons got what proved to be the only run they would need when leadoff hitter Hannah ford reached on a bunt single and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch. After the first inning jam, Leonard settled down and retire the next nine Western hitters while her offense continued to add to their lead.
In the West Union half of the second, Taylor Dozier was hit by a pitch to begin the frame and came home when second baseman Payton Stapleton laced a double just inside the left field line. Stapleton scored on a wild pitch while Kenidi Williams was at the plate, and Williams eventually drew a walk, then later came home on an RBI ground out by Sara Boldman that gave the home team a 4-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the third, Leonard helped her own cause by leading off the inning with a walk and then later stealing home after a rundown to make it 5-0. The West Union hurler gave up the first two Western hits of the game in the top of the fourth with two outs, but got a pop out to shortstop Audrey Weakley to get out of trouble.
The Lady Dragons put the game on ice when they tallied four more runs in the bottom half of the fourth. The combination of an infield hit by Ford, a base hit by Boldman, a walk to Weakley, a Western error, and a two-bagger by Dozier added up to a four-run inning an a 9-0 West Union lead.
In the top of the fifth, Leonard gave up a two-out triple but struck out the final hitter to close out the first “W” of the season for the Lady Dragons.
“Carly (Leonard) pitched well today,” said Worley. “We had some errors behind her when she came in the second game, but she threw strikes .”
Freshman Sara Boldman was in the center circle for the Lady Dragons as game two began and she just never seemed to get comfortable in her varsity debut. In the top of the first, the Lady Indians scored four times off the West Union right hander to claim am early lead they never relinquished. Boldman did not survive the top of the second as she was roughed up for three more runs, forcing Coach Worley to turn back to Leonard with Western now up 7-0.
The Lady Dragons got one of those back in their half of the second when Williams reached on an infield single, moved up on an error and a stolen base, then raced home on a wild pitch. In the bottom of the third, West Union got one more when Ford drew a walk and came home on a line drive double to left center by Boldman that made it 7-2.
Neither team scored again until the top of the fifth when the Lady Indians tacked on three insurance runs, the first runs allowed all day by Leonard, who got out of the inning when Weakley snagged a line drive at shortstop and turned it into an unassisted double play. In the bottom of the fifth, Courtney Hall led off with a base on balls for the home side, but the Autumn Blair, Ford, and Boldman went down in order as Western took the 10-2 win to leave town with a split.
“We had a lot of base running mistakes in the second game,” added Coach Worley. “That absolutely killed us. Overall, first game was good and not so good in the second. These girls have to learn to win and I won’t accept anything less.
With a 1-1 record, the Lady Dragons were scheduled to be back in action on Tuesday, March 30 with a trip to Manchester for the first Southern Hills Athletic Conference action for both squads.
BOX SCORES
Game One
West Union Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Ford 3-2-2-0, Boldman 3-1-1-1, Weakley 2-1-0-0, Leonard 1-2-0-0, Dozier 1-2-1-1, Stapleton 3-1-1-1, Williams 2-1-1-0, Hall 1-0-0-0, Carroll 1-0-0-0, Team 17-10-6-3.
Extra-Base Hits: Dozier 2B, Stapleton 2B
West Union Pitching: Leonard (W), 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K
Game Two
West Union Hitting (AB-R-H-RBI): Ford 2-1-1-0, Boldman 2-0-1-1, Weakley 0-0-0-0, Leonard 2-0-0-0, Dozier 0-0-0-0, Williams 1-1-1-0, Stapleton 2-0-0-0, Carroll 2-0-0-0, Hall 1-0-0-0, Shivener 1-0-0-0, Blair 1-0-0-0, Team 14-2-3-1.
Extra-Base Hits: Boldman 2B
West Union Pitching” Boldman (L), 1.1 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 4 BB, 3 K
Leonard 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 3 K
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