by Jamie Harris
The Berkeley Springs High School Lady Indians Varsity Softball Team had a busy week on the diamond. The Tribe played five games and was able to walk away with a 3-2 record. With the three wins the Lady Indians evened their 2018 record to 4-4.
Berkeley Springs hosted perennial Class AA power Petersburg on Monday, April 9. The Vikings opened the game up with three runs in the top of the first inning. In the bottom of the first senior McKennah Mullen tripled and then scored on Katie Hoffman’s RBI double to cut the score to 3-1.
Petersburg made the score 4-1 with a solo home run in the top of the third inning. Berkeley Springs bounced back in the bottom of the third inning when Mullen walked and eventually scored when Tailyn Michael drew a walk.
Petersburg broke the game open in the top of the fourth inning when they took advantage of three Tribe errors and scored four runs to make the score 8-2. Berkeley Springs answered in the bottom of the fourth inning when Natalie McCarthy and Mullen both singled. McCarthy scored on a single by Hannah Burton and Mullen scampered home on a passed ball to cut the score to 8-4.
Petersburg then tacked on seven runs in the top of the fifth inning to increase the score to 15-4. In the bottom of the fifth inning Berkeley Springs scored their final run when Taylor Stotler scored on a Mullen double to make the final score 15-5.
Berkeley Springs was led by Mullen who had three hits and an RBI.
“Playing in cold weather and snow flurries made it very difficult for both teams, especially pitching. We went through three pitchers and Petersburg went through four. We showed we can compete with Petersburg, but we must limit our mistakes. We made four crucial errors and gave up eight walks. McKennah had a great day with three hits and solid defensive play,” stated Coach Davy Michael.
The Lady Indians traveled to Philip Barbour for a doubleheader with Grafton and host Philip Barbour on Wednesday, April 11. In the first inning Burton reached on an error and scored on Hoffman’s single. Grafton scored two runs off of two walks and an error to lead 2-1.
In the top of the third inning T. Stotler led off with a double and scored on Burton’s RBI single. Hoffman then hit a two run home run to give the Tribe a 4-2 lead.
The Lady Indians added a run in the bottom of the fourth when Michael scored. Stotler led off the sixth inning with a single and scored when Mullen reached on an error. Mullen then scored on Burton’s single to give Berkeley Springs a 6-2 lead after six innings.
Mackenzie Stotler and Courtney Stotler led off the seventh inning with walks, Michael drove in a run with a double. Mullen drove in M. Stotler and Michael. Mullen then scored on Burton’s double. Hoffman then hit another two run home run to give the Lady Indians a 13-2 lead. Grafton then added five runs to make the final score 13-7. M. Stotler picked up the win on the mound for her first win of the season.
Berkeley Springs was led by T. Stotler (two hits), Hannah High (two hits), Burton (three hits and four RBIs) and Hoffman (2-2 run home runs, single and five RBIs).
“Overall, I was pleased with our performance. Mackenzie had a great day pitching and Katie was a monster at the plate,” stated Coach Michael.
In the second game the Lady Indians faced the Philip Barbour Lady Colts. Philip Barbour was able to take a 14-6 win in five innings over Berkeley Springs.
The Tribe scored first when T. Stotler led off with a single and scored on a Mullen RBI double. Philip Barbour bounced back to take a 3-1 lead after a three run home run.
Berkeley Springs added three runs in the top of the second inning when Carlee Spielman reached on an error. Aleah Hageny then singled. They both scored on a T. Stotler RBI double. Mullen then singled in Stotler for her second RBI of the game.
Philip Barbour bounced back and tied the score at 4-4 off of an error. The Lady Colts then added seven more runs to push the score to 11-4 at the end of the fourth inning.
Berkeley Springs bounced back in the top of the fifth inning with two runs when M. Stotler singled and scored on a Hageny RBI single. Hageny then scored on a T. Stotler RBI triple. The game ended in the bottom of the fifth when Philip Barbour scored three more runs to make the final score 14-6.
Berkeley Springs was led by T. Stotler (three hits and three RBIs) and Mullen (two hits and two RBIs).
“We really struggled at the plate, only collecting seven hits. Taylor and McKennah played great offensively again. Our pitching struggled on the mound giving up 10 hits and walking seven. The game was called close behind the plate with a very tight strike zone. Our pitchers like to move the ball around and we were forced to basically throw strikes right down the middle,” stated Coach Michael.
The Lady Indians traveled to Cumberland, Md. on Thursday, April 12 to take on the Fort Hill Sentinels. Berkeley Springs picked up the exciting 9-8 win.
Berkeley Springs was led by Hoffman (three hits and five RBIs), Burton (three hits and RBI), T. Stotler (two hits) and M. Stotler (two hits and RBI). Michael picked up the win after coming on in relief of Spielman in the fourth inning.
“We started off slow, but played better as the game went on. Carlee pitched well for her first varsity, she worked herself out of some rough situations,” stated Coach Michael.
The Lady Indians traveled to Martinsburg on Friday, April 13 for a contest with the Lady Bulldogs.
Berkeley Springs scored two in the first inning when Mullen singled and scored on a Hoffman single. High drove in Burton with a single. Martinsburg scored three in the bottom of the second inning and added two runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 5-2 lead.
The Lady Indians cut the lead to 5-4 in the top of the fourth inning when T. Stotler and Mullen scored on Hoffman’s double. Martinsburg took a 6-4 lead after scoring a run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Berkeley Springs then scored 10 runs in the top of the sixth inning aided by four Lady Bulldog errors. Martinsburg responded with four runs of their own to make the score 14 -10.
The Tribe then held the Martinsburg scoreless in the seventh inning to hold on for the win. Michael picked up the win in relief.
Berkeley Springs was led by High (three hits and three RBIs), T. Stotler (three hits), Burton (two hits and two RBIs) and Hoffman (two hits and two RBIs).
“It was great to get a win against an AAA opponent, but we are still too inconsistent at the plate and in the field. Mackenzie Stotler and Michael had great pitching performances, but they were not helped out by the seven errors we had in field,” stated Coach Michael.
The Lady Indians returned to action when they traveled to Keyser on Tuesday, April 17. Berkeley Springs will then finish out the week with games at Clear Spring and Hancock.
