jeffpatterson
04-17-2008, 08:39 PM
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York's Mary O'Connor tags out Poquoson's Kayla Renn at second base for a double-play in the second inning Thursday at York High. Photo by Diane Cebula/Daily Press
York figures out hitting’s ‘contagious’
Sparked by turning a triple play, the Falcons bust out of rut with 11 hits to beat Poquoson.
By DAVE JOHNSON | djohnson@dailypress.com | 247-4649
YORK — There’s little doubt that York’s softball team, though still clinging to first place in the Bay Rivers District, came into Thursday’s game against Poquoson in a rut. The Falcons had scored one run on nine hits in their last two games, which included an 11-inning tie against Tabb.
And right off the bat, in a game York had placed a lot of pressure on itself to win, the Islanders put their first two runners on. Yet just like that, the Falcons turned a triple play. And a little over an hour later, they had finished off an 8-0 victory behind an 11-hit attack.
“Every team has their ups and downs, and I’d say the (last two) games were two of our lower moments,” said left fielder Sarah Grinnell, who went 3-for-3 from the No. 9 spot. “But we definitely turned it around today. Everybody worked really hard and we got our mojo back.”
Or, as York coach Amy Hunter put it, “I got my team back.”
With the Falcons (7-1-1) struggling to produce at the plate, Hunter decided to shake up the batting order. Maybe the biggest change was moving Ashley Prosper from the clean-up spot to No. 6. If it wasn’t that, it was having Stephanie Olsen and Rachel Lamb — normally the Nos. 3 and 5 hitters, respectively — trade places.
Look for Hunter to keep that same lineup when the Falcons play Southampton on Saturday. Prosper went 3-for-4 with an RBI; Olsen went 1-for-3 with an RBI; and Lamb had a pair of hits and drove in a run.
And then there was Grinnell, who was dropped from eighth to ninth and responded with a two-out RBI single on her first at-bat.
“It just wasn’t working before, so we wanted to put (almost) everybody in a different spot,” Hunter said. “It was a new look. I had told them (Wednesday) that hitting for this team is contagious. If we could just get a couple of hits, it would flow for the whole team.”
But the offense’s resurgence might have been triggered by a defensive gem in the first inning. Poquoson (7-3) had runners at first and second with nobody out when Taylor Walker lined a shot down the first base line.
Lamb, playing at the bag, speared it. Then she stepped on first for the second out and threw to second to end the inning.
“That was probably the biggest factor to the whole game,” Prosper said. “It really pumped us up. Everybody was going for it so hard because we really wanted this game so bad.”
YORK 8, POQUOSON 0
Poquoson 000 000 0 — 0 4 4
York 011 114 x — 8 11 2
WP — Prosper (7-1-1). LP — Gibbs (7-3). Standouts — Poquoson, Putnam 2-3; York, Grinnell 3-3 2 runs RBI, Lamb 2-3 run RBI, Prosper 3-4 run RBI. Records — York 7-1-1, Poquoson 7-3.
York's Mary O'Connor tags out Poquoson's Kayla Renn at second base for a double-play in the second inning Thursday at York High. Photo by Diane Cebula/Daily Press
York figures out hitting’s ‘contagious’
Sparked by turning a triple play, the Falcons bust out of rut with 11 hits to beat Poquoson.
By DAVE JOHNSON | djohnson@dailypress.com | 247-4649
YORK — There’s little doubt that York’s softball team, though still clinging to first place in the Bay Rivers District, came into Thursday’s game against Poquoson in a rut. The Falcons had scored one run on nine hits in their last two games, which included an 11-inning tie against Tabb.
And right off the bat, in a game York had placed a lot of pressure on itself to win, the Islanders put their first two runners on. Yet just like that, the Falcons turned a triple play. And a little over an hour later, they had finished off an 8-0 victory behind an 11-hit attack.
“Every team has their ups and downs, and I’d say the (last two) games were two of our lower moments,” said left fielder Sarah Grinnell, who went 3-for-3 from the No. 9 spot. “But we definitely turned it around today. Everybody worked really hard and we got our mojo back.”
Or, as York coach Amy Hunter put it, “I got my team back.”
With the Falcons (7-1-1) struggling to produce at the plate, Hunter decided to shake up the batting order. Maybe the biggest change was moving Ashley Prosper from the clean-up spot to No. 6. If it wasn’t that, it was having Stephanie Olsen and Rachel Lamb — normally the Nos. 3 and 5 hitters, respectively — trade places.
Look for Hunter to keep that same lineup when the Falcons play Southampton on Saturday. Prosper went 3-for-4 with an RBI; Olsen went 1-for-3 with an RBI; and Lamb had a pair of hits and drove in a run.
And then there was Grinnell, who was dropped from eighth to ninth and responded with a two-out RBI single on her first at-bat.
“It just wasn’t working before, so we wanted to put (almost) everybody in a different spot,” Hunter said. “It was a new look. I had told them (Wednesday) that hitting for this team is contagious. If we could just get a couple of hits, it would flow for the whole team.”
But the offense’s resurgence might have been triggered by a defensive gem in the first inning. Poquoson (7-3) had runners at first and second with nobody out when Taylor Walker lined a shot down the first base line.
Lamb, playing at the bag, speared it. Then she stepped on first for the second out and threw to second to end the inning.
“That was probably the biggest factor to the whole game,” Prosper said. “It really pumped us up. Everybody was going for it so hard because we really wanted this game so bad.”
YORK 8, POQUOSON 0
Poquoson 000 000 0 — 0 4 4
York 011 114 x — 8 11 2
WP — Prosper (7-1-1). LP — Gibbs (7-3). Standouts — Poquoson, Putnam 2-3; York, Grinnell 3-3 2 runs RBI, Lamb 2-3 run RBI, Prosper 3-4 run RBI. Records — York 7-1-1, Poquoson 7-3.