Lady Indians drop two

The Berkeley Springs High School Girls Softball Team lost to Class AAA opponents Musselman and Hedgesville last week.

Musselman visited Berkeley Springs on Monday, March 19, and returned to Berkeley County with a 14-5 victory. Both teams had nine hits, but Musselman took advantage of some of Berkeley Springs miscues to claim the victory.

"The game was closer than the score indicates," said Berkeley Springs Coach Greg Brown. “We gave up five earned runs and they gave up four. If everyone does their job on defense, it's a great game. We committed five errors, they committed one. We are not strong enough offensively to overcome a porous defense. We have girls learning new positions and it will take time for them to become comfortable. We just need to be patient and stay positive."

Berkeley Springs fell behind 9-1 after three-and-one-half innings, but responded with two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to get right back in the game. However, Musselman scored five times in the top of the sixth and set Berkeley Springs down in order in the bottom half of the inning to secure the nine-run win.

Brittney Stotler was a perfect 3-3 at the plate and scored one of Berkeley Springs five runs. Morgan Wachter added a two run single for the 1-4 Tribe.

Natalie Redick went all six innings, allowing 14 runs (five earned) on nine hits.
Three days later Hedgesville shutout the Indians 8-0 in Hedgesville.

The Lady Eagles scored six times in the first inning and twice in the third, while shutting down the Indian offense.

"Four walks, a hit batter and five errors in the first couple of innings sort of put us out of the game early," Brown said. “Our defense has to be more aggressive. We are playing like we're afraid to mess up. We preach to girls, as long as they give 100% and go hard that's okay. Mistakes will happen and we can live with that. Being hesitant and hoping the other girl gets it is how we're playing and we have to change that. I want every girl to be a ‘ball hog.’ Hopefully, we will get a little more comfortable, a little more aggressive and put a few wins on the board."

Berkeley Springs travels to Martinsburg on March 28, hosts Moorefield on March 29 and Petersburg in a double-header on Saturday, March 31 at 1 p.m. The Indians will end a very busy week with home games against Martinsburg on April 2 and East Hardy on April 3.