Lady Blues hold lead for win over Peaster News Staff Fri, 03/01/2024 - 12:58 pm
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham shortstop Olga Morales connects with a ball for a big hit during the team’s 9-6 win over Peaster this past Monday, Feb. 26. Morales finished the game a perfect 4-for-4 in the batter’s box.
- (TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Zoey Harrell releases a pitch in relief during the team’s 9-6 win over Peaster this past Monday, Feb. 26. Harrell pitched three innings in the game and gave up two earned runs while striking out six batters.
TC Gordon sports@grahamleader.com
The final score was a tad closer than anyone would have liked, but the Graham Lady Blues held on for a 9-6 victory Monday, Feb. 26 against the Peaster Lady Greyhounds.
A three-run win is always welcome, especially when the offense scores nine runs in the game. But during the fifth inning, it looked like things were starting to come off the rails for Graham.
Through four innings the Lady Blues had a healthy 8-1 lead and pitcher Reese Calhoun had cruised through the game after allowing Peaster their only run in the first inning. In the fifth inning, however, finding the strike zone became a bit of a problem.
Calhoun walked a batter, hit one with a pitch, then walked three in a row to let two runs score before head coach Adam Arrington made a switch to Zoey Harrell. But the new pitcher struggled and walked in another run to cut Graham’s lead in half and make it 8-4 before she got out of the inning.
The visiting Lady Greyhounds made another small comeback attempt in the seventh and final inning, as they tacked on two more runs to cut it to 9-6. But Harrell stayed calm and struck out the final Peaster batter to secure the win for Graham.
“We’ve just got to have confidence, and (our pitchers have) proven multiple years here already that they can do it,” Arrington said. “It’s easy to get in your head a little bit. But I think if we don’t get in our head and we just keep working hard they’ll bounce out of it.”
The pitching has helped carry Graham to their impressive 8-1 record already this season. And the pitchers will continue to be relied upon throughout the rest of the year.
Graham’s scoring in this one came in spurts. After Peaster took a 1-0 lead in the first inning, the Lady Blues managed to tie the game and then take the lead in the second inning. Three straight singles to start the inning followed later by a bases-loaded walk and a Peaster error led to Graham taking the 2-1 lead.
In the very next inning, the Lady Blues doubled their run total with some more big hits from the middle of their lineup. Meagan Brooks and Emily Lawson hit back-to-back doubles to score one, then Olga Morales singled home Lawson to put Graham up 4-1.
The breakout inning for the Lady Blues came in the fourth, their third straight inning with multiple runs scored. Five singles and a fielder’s choice mixed in led to another four runs for Graham and pushed their lead to 8-1.
Arrington was happy to see multiple innings with hitters stringing hits together and he believes that will only boost his team’s confidence to keep doing it moving forward.
“I hope that just gives us confidence; I think that’s our biggest issue right now is confidence in the box,” he said. “All of our girls are pretty good hitters. If they’ll just get the confidence figured out in the box and can keep doing that I think we always have that chance to have those multiple run innings. But we just have to believe in ourselves for it to happen.”
Morales had one of her best game’s of the season so far as she finished 4-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored of her own. Lawson went 3-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored while Brooks finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, as well.
After competing in the Iowa Park tournament over the weekend of Feb. 29-March 2, the Lady Blues will hit the road again for a game at Bridgeport next Tuesday, March 5, with varsity scheduled for 6 p.m. and JV at 4 p.m.
Breaking News Off
Most Popular
Comments / 0