The Lady tigers of Bradwell took to the softball field on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and split the games against two tough opponents by losing to the Lady Groves Rebels and defeating the Lady Knights of Windsor Forest.
Tigers at Groves (0-6)
The Tigers traveled to Groves on Tuesday and faced the Lady Rebels for the first time since the Paulson tournament on Aug. 18. At the tournament these two teams were neck and neck but Groves pulled ahead 15-10. The same would be true at this challenge as the Lady Tigers lacked the confidence to keep the Rebels in check and allowed their opponents 6 unanswered points. The Rebels held the Tigers scoreless in their 6-0 victory on Tuesday afternoon and tigers head coach Sharyl Eastlake said it would be the confidence factor she would work on to prepare the Tigers for their challenge against Windsor Forest.
“The loss on Tuesday helped prepare us for Thursday’s game against Windsor Forest,” she said. “We worked on getting the hits because they were all looking for that perfect strike that comes out of a pitching machine. As we know in the real game strike zones may vary and they had to get over the hard time they were having in getting some of the lower balls or adjusting their position at the plate.”
Eastlake also wanted the ladies to regain their confidence.
“I want them to be more assertive and own their area of the diamond,” she said. “Playing experience is a factor, and we do have a young team but they need to learn that winning takes a lot of work and commitment.”
Eastlake was pleased with the outstanding pitching performance of senior, Jena Alford, who threw 9 strikeouts and had only 4 walks. Although the Tigers had runners in the scoring positioning 5 of the 7 innings they could not bring their runners in across home plate.
Jena Alford led the battery with 2 hits, Tamika Lipscomb had a double and Dani Jacobs had a single. Kelsey Rogers had 2 sacrifice bunts to push runners into scoring position.
After the game against Groves the Lady Tigers sized up the tactics and began to think of Thursday game against Windsor Forest.
“I think if we go out there next time knowing that we are going to win then we will be better off,” Patrice Antalan, sophomore short stop said. “We were a little shaky in this game and the team is still young, some of our players were not exposed to a complete game like that before,” she said.
“We are not down on ourselves,” Jena Alford said. “We just need to work on a few things, but we are confident as we look to play Windsor Forest,” she said. Alford said that, just like the Tigers, the Windsor Forest team lost several senior players and was relatively young as well. Coach Eastlake said the two teams were in the same level as far as skills and that two are in the same caliber.
Tigers vs. Windsor Forest Lady knights (4-3)
The Lady Tigers got a taste of region victory at their home field as they edged out the Lady Knights of Windsor Forest.
Once again Jena Alford owned the mound with an impressive 13 strikeouts and 2 walks.
The Lady Knights put the first point on the board with a hit to left field followed by a steal at second base and the run coming in off a throwing error. But the Tigers were quick to come back and Alford scored after reaching first base on an error, stealing second and running home when the Lady Knights threw a wild pitch.
The lady Knights scored again making it a 2-1 game until the fifth inning when Alexis Scott walked to first after being hit by a pitch. Alford then sacrificed sending Scott to second base. Scott later stole third and made it home on a wild pitch by the Lady Knights tying the score 2-2.
The sixth inning began with a score for the Lady Knights after a walk and two consecutive errors by the Tigers. However at the bottom of the sixth the Tigers rallied and Tamika Lipscomb reached first on an error and Danielle Jacobs was walked after being hit with yet another wild pitch.
That put runners on first and second and Dani Jacobs sacrificed placing the runners on second and third. Kaitlyn Stacy hit both runners in and the Tigers were ahead 4-3.
Alford took the mound and shut down the bats for the Lady Knights and ended the game with a win.
“It was very exciting,” Eastlake said. “It got a little nervous there for a while but Alford really shut the game down for us. She is so emotional on that mound; you could see it in her eyes. “We depended on her and she through for us. She took the pressure off the other girls, the last inning was all her and she made it look so easy,” Eastlake said.
After the win the girls chased coach Eastlake across the field and held her as the celebratory water keg dunk, was poured all over her and some of the players.
Tigers at Groves (0-6)
The Tigers traveled to Groves on Tuesday and faced the Lady Rebels for the first time since the Paulson tournament on Aug. 18. At the tournament these two teams were neck and neck but Groves pulled ahead 15-10. The same would be true at this challenge as the Lady Tigers lacked the confidence to keep the Rebels in check and allowed their opponents 6 unanswered points. The Rebels held the Tigers scoreless in their 6-0 victory on Tuesday afternoon and tigers head coach Sharyl Eastlake said it would be the confidence factor she would work on to prepare the Tigers for their challenge against Windsor Forest.
“The loss on Tuesday helped prepare us for Thursday’s game against Windsor Forest,” she said. “We worked on getting the hits because they were all looking for that perfect strike that comes out of a pitching machine. As we know in the real game strike zones may vary and they had to get over the hard time they were having in getting some of the lower balls or adjusting their position at the plate.”
Eastlake also wanted the ladies to regain their confidence.
“I want them to be more assertive and own their area of the diamond,” she said. “Playing experience is a factor, and we do have a young team but they need to learn that winning takes a lot of work and commitment.”
Eastlake was pleased with the outstanding pitching performance of senior, Jena Alford, who threw 9 strikeouts and had only 4 walks. Although the Tigers had runners in the scoring positioning 5 of the 7 innings they could not bring their runners in across home plate.
Jena Alford led the battery with 2 hits, Tamika Lipscomb had a double and Dani Jacobs had a single. Kelsey Rogers had 2 sacrifice bunts to push runners into scoring position.
After the game against Groves the Lady Tigers sized up the tactics and began to think of Thursday game against Windsor Forest.
“I think if we go out there next time knowing that we are going to win then we will be better off,” Patrice Antalan, sophomore short stop said. “We were a little shaky in this game and the team is still young, some of our players were not exposed to a complete game like that before,” she said.
“We are not down on ourselves,” Jena Alford said. “We just need to work on a few things, but we are confident as we look to play Windsor Forest,” she said. Alford said that, just like the Tigers, the Windsor Forest team lost several senior players and was relatively young as well. Coach Eastlake said the two teams were in the same level as far as skills and that two are in the same caliber.
Tigers vs. Windsor Forest Lady knights (4-3)
The Lady Tigers got a taste of region victory at their home field as they edged out the Lady Knights of Windsor Forest.
Once again Jena Alford owned the mound with an impressive 13 strikeouts and 2 walks.
The Lady Knights put the first point on the board with a hit to left field followed by a steal at second base and the run coming in off a throwing error. But the Tigers were quick to come back and Alford scored after reaching first base on an error, stealing second and running home when the Lady Knights threw a wild pitch.
The lady Knights scored again making it a 2-1 game until the fifth inning when Alexis Scott walked to first after being hit by a pitch. Alford then sacrificed sending Scott to second base. Scott later stole third and made it home on a wild pitch by the Lady Knights tying the score 2-2.
The sixth inning began with a score for the Lady Knights after a walk and two consecutive errors by the Tigers. However at the bottom of the sixth the Tigers rallied and Tamika Lipscomb reached first on an error and Danielle Jacobs was walked after being hit with yet another wild pitch.
That put runners on first and second and Dani Jacobs sacrificed placing the runners on second and third. Kaitlyn Stacy hit both runners in and the Tigers were ahead 4-3.
Alford took the mound and shut down the bats for the Lady Knights and ended the game with a win.
“It was very exciting,” Eastlake said. “It got a little nervous there for a while but Alford really shut the game down for us. She is so emotional on that mound; you could see it in her eyes. “We depended on her and she through for us. She took the pressure off the other girls, the last inning was all her and she made it look so easy,” Eastlake said.
After the win the girls chased coach Eastlake across the field and held her as the celebratory water keg dunk, was poured all over her and some of the players.