Cooper softball shows talent in conference loss

Cooper softball played one game last week, with two delayed by weather, taking on its first conference game of the season on April 18. in a 13-2 to St. Anthony

The Hawks started the evening well, with good catches from first baseman Jenna Garman and second baseman Sariya Browning shutting out the Hawks for the first inning. A single for Emma Chavez, who then stole second and third base, provided an opportunity Saraphina Wilhelm to hit an RBI single. The scoring ended there, but Cooper led 1-0 heading into the top of the second.

The Huskies picked up two runs in the second, but a good catch at right field and two tags for Garman at first, the second coming from a good connection with Chavez at shortstop, stopped the damage there. St. Anthony found a third run in the top of the third, but did see more potential scoring stopped by good work at first base from Garman, who maintained good communication with Chavez and Browning. Three tag outs at first by the Hawks and three strikeouts for St. Anthony left the fourth scoreless for all.

Cooper’s scoring had slowed, though both Browning and Kendall Carscadden come closest to causing trouble with singles and base-running in the third and fourth innings. That improved in the bottom of the fifth with a run for Sinthia Reilly off an RBI hit by Chavez, but this followed a strong top of the fifth from the Huskies to make it 8-2 heading into the sixth. St. Anthony closed the game out with four more runs to win 13-2.

Despite the loss, Cooper showed promise in the game. The Hawks kept their heads up throughout and had strong moments defensively from Garman, Browning, Chavez, and Reilly, as well as outfielders Wilhelm, Alleyne Syverson, and Samantha Otto.

Cooper also created trouble at bat, with narrow margins at the bases preventing them from making Thursday’s matchup a closer scoreline.

Cooper will have a busy schedule the following week, traveling to Richfield on April 23 (after this edition went to press), before hosting Roosevelt and Kennedy on April 24 and 25, respectively. They will then travel to play St. Croix Prep and Totino-Grace in a tournament on Saturday, April 27.