Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ELSAH, ILL
Vs: Spalding
GAME 1 3-0 loss
The first game against Spalding had a remarkable similarity to the previous 4 games this week. It was a game that was there for the taking but Principia didn't find a way to get a win. This too was a close game just like the others. Spalding was ranked #3 in the pre-season Conference poll and Prin went toe to toe with them. The offense really struggled in this one but they still were able to get runners on base with walks and being hit by pitches. The team's inexperience hurt them at the plate today as Spalding's pitcher realized she could throw a rise ball out of the strike zone and Prin's batters would chase it. Prin just couldn't adjust at the plate and struck out an alarming 14 times but still managed to be in the game because they were playing fairly good defense and Spalding wasn't mounting a lot of offense either. In the 5
th inning with no score in the game Prin had runners at first and second with no one out and then had a strike out. They then loaded the bases with one out but did not score. Spalding scored 2 in the 6
th to take the lead but Prin looked ready to answer. Their leadoff batter was on second with none out and then there were two strike outs a HP and another strike out to kill the inning. In the 7
th the team got going again by loading the bases with one out but again couldn't score. If this team can just start getting some key hits they will start winning games.
Bekah Charlston was 2 for 3 and
Thanda Kyaw was 1 for 2 with a walk and a stolen base.
GAME 2 9-3 loss
Of the six games the team played this week this was the only one where they were definitely outplayed. Although the game started out well it looked like Prin mentally ran out of gas. Spalding scored in the top of the 1
st but Prin came right back with a great inning and scored three runs of their own. Unfortunately Spalding got four more in the 2
nd inning, two of them on a misplayed fly ball by the Prin defense. Spalding got two more in each of the 4
th and 5
th innings. The Gold and Blue did keep trying and in the 2
nd it looked like they would respond with some runs as their leadoff batter got on base but a base running error ended up in a double play and the threat ended there. They were back at it in the 4
th with runners at second and third with two out but popped up to short stop to end the inning. In the 5
th they loaded the bases with one out but went quietly with a pop up and a ground ball to short stop.
The big difference in this game was how much more experienced Spalding is than Principia. When Prin took the 3-1 lead after one inning Spalding's hitters started cutting down their swings, hitting to the off-field and just trying to make contact and put balls in play. The adjustment worked for them as they got four runs back right away. After the 1
st inning Spalding got 11 more hits while Prin could only muster 4. Prin just wasn't able to adjust to the pitching and ended up being well out in front of the pitches and thus weren't able to make solid contact. Those are the little things that experienced ball players are able to do and hopefully with more experience Prin's hitters will start making those kind of adjustments.
Christine Nacewicz was 2 for 4 with a triple and a run scored.
Devon Harrison,
Marina Whitney,
Casey Lee and
Jocelyn Shoemake all had a hit. Devon's was a double, Marina had a walk, scored a run and stole a base as did Casey.
