WNCC Athletic Newsletter #1 -- August 21

 

 

Scottsbluff earns come-from-behind win over Gering

 

               The Scottsbluff and Gering softball game was one where the Bearcats stayed strong despite trailing 4-1 to earn a 5-4 win over the Bulldogs Thursday night at Scottsbluff.

                Scottsbluff coach Dan Fox said his team stayed cool and kept their heads in the game to pick up the thrilling victory.

                “The bottom of the line-up was great and Mikala Zwetzig had two great plays at third,” Fox said. “We had a couple of errors, too. But, I think Bre pitched a heck of a game for us and so did Brodee on the opposite side. I have to give hats off to her, she pitched a great game for Gering. We will have more battles with them this year, but I thought our defense was great.”

                Fox said it was a good game between the two teams. He said Gering has a little bit more varsity playing experience, but his young team found a way to get their second win this week.

                “I think Gering has the more experienced players on the field for varsity players and they have a lot of girls playing like DaNae, Brodee, Rylee, and Brown. So, they have a lot of girls that played varsity last year,” he said. “We had some girls that played a little bit, but we don’t have the numbers, Loural, Campbell, and Bella played some last year. I felt they had the advantage coming with experience, but with our team, we grind and grind. We grind in practice, in summer, in the weight room. I think tonight we kept our pose and we got the win.”

                Gering coach Zach Ostergard said it was a good contest between the two teams and the difference was Scottsbluff took advantage of a few fundamental miscues on defense.

                “The little things that we have been talking about all season long and we let that dictate the game and we couldn’t give them any freebies or any little mistakes,” Ostergard said. “Unfortunately, we did just that and they capitalized on it. Teams like that you have to take what they give you and you can’t give them any extra outs.”

                Take away a couple throwing errors, Ostergard said his defense is good. They just need to learn to not give the team extra outs.

                “We take a lot of pride in our defense,” he said. “We still make some little mistakes on defense that shouldn’t have happened and that is just part of it and it is learning moments. Brodee Luce did a really great job in the circle and it was just some things late in the game that got to her and that is fine. It is something she will build off of and by the end of the year she will be a much better pitcher and we will be a lot stronger as a team.”

                Both pitchers threw well. Scottsbluff sophomore Breanne Lilley picked up the win allowing seven hits, striking out three and walking just three. Gering junior pitcher Brodee Luce allowed four hits with six walks and four strikeouts.

                Scottsbluff scored first as Danielle Hunter singled and scored on a throwing error for the 1-0 lead.

                Gering tied the game with a run in the third Lexee Lohr walked and advanced to third on a Jacelyn Brown double. Lohr later scored on a ground out to tie the game.

                The Bulldogs followed the third with three runs in the fourth, scoring all the runs with two outs. Avvah Escamilla led things off with a single and pinch runner Rileigh Dane scored on a ground out. Lohr and Hope Mitchell came through with back-to-back singles and then Brown scored both with a double for the 4-1 lead.

                Scottsbluff came right back in the bottom of the fourth with a run. Clare Schlothauer ripped a 2-out double to score pinch runner Jaylee Sarchet to make it 4-2.

                Neither team scored in the fifth and Scottsbluff held Gering scoreless in the top of the sixth. The bottom of the fifth was a gut-check time for Scottsbluff. With two outs, the Bearcats mounted a rally. Schlothauer started things with a 4-pitch walk. Mikala Zwetzig followed with a single to put runners in scoring position.

                Schlothauer scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-3. Hunter then walked. Loural McCoy got the go-ahead hit as the senior hit a slow roller that Gering couldn’t field in time and Zwetzig and Hunter both scored on a throwing error for the 5-4 lead.

                Scottsbluff was led at the plate by McCoy with two hits and two RBIs. Schlothauer and Zwetzig each had doubles for the Bearcats.

                Gering was led at the plate by brown with two doubles and two RNIs, while Jaleigh Bohac had a double as well.

                Both teams will be back in action Tuesday when Gering hosts Chase County and Scottsbluff hosts Chadron.