Softball walks off in seventh vs. Benton
By HENRY JANSSEN Sports reporter
Senior Katlyn Striplin strokes a single in the second inning of Thursday’s competition. Striplin finished the day 1-2 and reached base on two of Maryville’s four walks.
The Maryville Spoofhounds’ softball team rode the momentum from a six-run first inning to defeat St. Joseph Benton in walk-off fashion 8-7 at home on Thursday evening. After Benton intentionally walked senior Katlyn Striplin with first base vacant to load the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning, senior Kiley Proffit hit a fielder’s choice, allowing senior Abbie Greeley to safely reach home plate.
Freshman pitcher Riley Gray allowed just three walks to her two strikeouts. Benton recorded seven base hits off of her on the day. Maryville’s offense produced eight, four of them coming in a 36-minute first inning in which 12 batters appeared at the plate. The Hounds capitalized on three consecutive errors by the Benton defense, and were able to plate four of their runs in a span of five batters.
“It’s senior night, so my girls were definitely coming ready to play tonight,” Maryville head softball coach Chandra DeMott said. “We had a rough start to the week, losing to Platte Valley. If we could come out and jump on them early, we knew that was going to be a game-changer for us. We worked a lot this week, got in two days of really hard, tough practice. This win was a big deal for us.”
DeMott said that she and the coaching staff had honed in on a suspect Spoofhound defense, and that her fielders have been making strides. Maryville had five errors to Benton’s three on Thursday, but four of the Hounds miscues came in the first two innings.
“Monday night, we were not solid defensively and it hurt us,” DeMott said. “We came into Tuesday’s practice, and we really worked the girls. We did about two hours of solid defensive work. A lot of drills, a lot of mental prep. I think it paid off for us tonight.”
Three of Maryville’s eight hits on Thursday came at the hand of freshman Jessica Finch, who recorded three RBI and hit a ground rule double in the seventh to put Greeley in scoring position. DeMott was pleased with her freshman’s performance following Maryville’s victory.
“Jessica, as a freshman coming in for me, has stepped up nicely,” DeMott said. “She’s one of those kids that can play just about any position I’ve asked her to play. She’s been a great asset to our team, and I can always count on her for her bat. She’s a lefty which helps us out a lot. A lot of teams think she’s slapping. She can do both, she sees the ball well and has been hitting nicely for us.
“We’ve got a very difficult week ahead of us, so we’re looking to keep the momentum going.”
“I just did what [assistant coach Jennifer] Stock always tells me, see ball hit ball, fire it out to the green,” Finch said. “This past week we’ve worked on some hitting and fielding, and we’ve come a long way. We had some good hits and made some good outs that saved us. We’re going to work as a team and look for some victories.”
Benton head coach Greg Reynolds credited both teams in Thursday’s grind-it-out ballgame, but felt his side’s defense fell short.
“You can’t give up six runs in the first inning and have much success,” Reynolds said. “Too much to overcome for us. We didn’t make the plays. Once you dig yourself a hole like that, it’s hard to come back. Maryville played well tonight, you can’t take anything away from them. For some reason tonight, we couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it. To be fair, they left runners on base too.”
The Hounds will play again Monday at 4:30 p.m. in Falls City, Nebraska, and Tuesday at Savannah at the same start time.
By HENRY JANSSEN Sports reporter
Senior shortstop Meghan Yarnell punches out Benton freshman Kayla Steffen on a force out at second base, and eyes down another out at first.
By HENRY JANSSEN Sports reporter
Sophomore catcher Emma Baldwin takes an extra base in Thursday’s game, beating the throw from the outfield. Baldwin recorded a pair of singles against Benton, including successfully bunting for a hit.
