One more day of ball.
Aggie Softball had two
scheduled games today, but one was canceled yesterday. Aggie
Baseball had one more game. Ron and
I picked the softball game, since it would probably be a bit quicker. The Daytona
500 was also this afternoon. Just
watching the softball, we could probably get back in time to see the end of the
race.
The weather today was colder at 50 degrees, but bright
and sunny. (The PA announced it was 24
degrees in Peoria, IL, where our opponent Bradley
is located.) I actually got sunburned
yesterday, even though it was pretty cold.
The unfortunate problem though was again the wind. It was stiff and cold and a good deal colder
than 50 degrees. I was bundled up, so I
was comfortable for most of the game, until the seventh, but we’ll get to that.
When we pulled into the parking lot, we heard a big cheer
go up from the grandstands. Texas State was playing Montana. The crowd was letting out as we walked
in. I ran into Danny, who’d watched the
game. Texas State won and ended the game
on a great catch by their shortstop. The
teams were out front too. #13 Caitlyn Rogers on the Bobcats
immediately caught my eye. What a
spectacular redhead! Sorry, she wasn’t
in yesterday’s game.
On field during the break, I saw Coach Rodolph and pitcher Kayla
Green talking. I thought Kayla would
be starting today because of that, but Analise
de la Roca would be in the circle.
She was also batting eighth.
Okay, I knew she could hit.
However, Kennedy Johnson was
in as DP. This meant Sarai Meija in right field was not in
the batting order. So, the DP isn’t
taking the place of the pitcher in the lineup, but the pitcher is taking the
place of a position player, and I officially don’t understand softball
rules. Also of note, Caity Szczesny was in left field,
instead of Brandy Hernandez. 
At the top of the first, we got a good taste of what was
to come. While Analise started off with
a strikeout, most of the rest of the time, she was getting squeezed pretty badly
by the ump. This resulted in a home run
to the third batter, giving the Braves a 1-0 lead. For the rest of the game, pitchers would be
guessing at the strike zone. The homer went
to left where the wind was blowing. The
last flyball out went to deep right and the wind kept it in.
In the bottom of the first, the Bradley starter was
hittable. In spite of the wind
direction, Kelsey Horton led off
with a line drive homer to right, just inside the pole for a tying home
run. Victoria Castro singled after her.
Mya Felder was serenaded with
a new song from the dugout and she singled.
Next, Nikki Butler was
hit.
The Bradley coach had seen enough and brought in a new
pitcher. Kayla Bowen, who was also sang to with new song, singled in a pair
of runs to make it 3-1 Aggies. Though
the Aggies loaded the bases, a pair of strikeouts and a line out ended the
inning. Julie Kestas, the Braves reliever, actually walked off after her
second K, forgetting the number of outs.
She came back well from that embarrassment.
During this time, Aggie
Baseball came on the radio. Me and
Ron were listening. The pregame
mentioned that the Aggies had outscored Texas
Southern 82 to 16 over three games. I
could just see home plate through the tree screen from where I was
sitting. This would prove to be a
distraction at times.
In the second, Caity made a good diving effort on a
single in left. Unfortunately, this made
for a two-homer with the next batter to tie the score at 3. There was a final t-shirt toss for the
tournament. The crowd got up and was
energized. The PA complimented everyone
on their enthusiasm. Kelsey doubled to
start the bottom of the second and advanced on a wild pitch, but was stranded
there.
Coach Rodolph stuck with Analise as long as she could,
but a leadoff home run to start the third finally ended her outing. Chloe
Rivas came in and would take Analise’s spot in the batting order. Actually, she came in on a three-ball count
on the next batter and walked her (it’s on Analise’s line). She showed some good awareness in getting the
lead runner at third on a comebacker.
Chloe gave up a walk and a run on a single, but finished the inning with
a pair of strikeouts. 3-5 Bradley.
Brandy came in as a defensive replacement for Caity in
left in the fourth. Chloe got a good
strikeout looking to end a two-on threat.
She also had a tremendous 1-2-3 fifth with the dugout cheering her
on. Oh, seems like I’m skipping
something here. Yeah, nine-straight outs
by Aggie hitting. Kestas was mowing them
down. Kelsey swung at the first pitch to
end the fourth on a lineout.
Things changed in the bottom of the fifth. Tori came up and was serenaded from the
dugout with Gary Glitter’s Hey.
The girls couldn’t quite sing it on key and ended up laughing. Tori slapped some hard fouls back. One actually flew into the opposing bullpen
and the warmup catcher almost caught it.
Tori doubled after a lengthy battle.
Mya followed that with a double that hit the center field wall with a
liner. This chased Kestas from the game.
Taise
Thompson, who had been playing third but was taken out from there
earlier, was brought in to pitch.
Meanwhile on the radio, Aggie Baseball had a big third inning and was
now leading 7-1. Nikki came up and hit a
massive foul ball that got the crowd going, but Mya actually got driven in
thanks to a couple of passed balls (which I scored as wild pitches.) The Braves catcher, Kealia Wysocki, took a bouncer to the nuts in one at bat. She had to walk it off. The coach came out and got her to laugh. The PA and the crowd gave her a round of
applause for staying in. 5-5 after five innings.
In the sixth, Chloe loaded the bases with a double and
two walks. She was really having trouble
with the ump’s calls. There were two
outs. Brandy made a great running
backhanded catch for out number two.
Kayla came into the game to pitch.
Chloe went to right field to replace Sarai (who I feel bad for, since
she never got an at bat). Kayla gave up
a sure gapper to left center. Tori came
on and laid out for it, catching it on a dive.
The crowd and the team went nuts.
If that ball had gotten past her, it would have been a bases-clearing
triple.
Bottom of the sixth, Chloe started off the inning with a
single. Shelby Shultes pinch hit and singled as well. This brought on another Braves’ pitcher, Emma Jackson, who’d handled the Aggies
pretty well on Friday, to face Kelsey
Horton, who she struck out three times.
Emma and Kelsey had an epic battle with several monster foul balls. Kelsey would get on via a fielder’s
choice.
In spite of the drama on the softball field, I have to
make a digression to the baseball game as it came into play here. The Aggies had truly awe-inspiring fifth inning. Tristan
Peterson and Braden Williams
went back-to-back in homers. While the
two fields are adjacent to each other, they are not right next to each
other. There is the tree screen and a
walkway separating them. It was
surprising then that play was stopped on the softball field to recover a baseball
in left field. The PA did identify
it. It was Williams’ home run ball. Even with the wind carrying it, I’m not sure
how it got there. It must have bounced
off something out there.
Back to the softball, Tori walked next. Nikki was out on grounder that went off of
Jackson’s leg. It was good concentration
by second baseman Vicki Zaluske to
get the out at first. This play did move
Kelsey and Tori up a base. What happened
next defies explanation. On a passed
ball*, Kelsey charged the plate and scored.
Tori, stopping briefly at third, came right home and scored as
well. The Braves didn’t call for time
after recovering the ball. Jackson had
her back turned while holding the ball. Tori
was really heads up there. (*I thought
it was a wild pitch. In fact, I didn’t score
any passed balls. Me and the official
scorer have a disagreement on this.) 8-5
Aggies.
I was distracted a bit during this inning. I could see Nick Gonzales taking his at bat through the trees. Via the radio call, I heard him hit a grand
slam home run. Peterson would then hit a
second home run . . . for the inning!
The fifth inning in the baseball game came to an end with the Aggies up
16-1.
The wind picked up by the start of the seventh of the
softball game. It was getting
uncomfortable. “Uncomfortable” would
also be a good description of this inning.
Kayla gave up a hit to start the inning.
She got the lead runner at second on a fielder’s choice. An error at short* on a grounder let on the
next batter. (*Okay, here we have
another questionable scoring decision. It
was a slow-developing play, but I had it as an infield hit. The error was attributed to Kayla Bowen. However, Casie
Roberto had been inserted into short earlier in the inning. She was removed for KB after that play.)
Regardless, Kayla gave up another hit to score a run to
make it 8-6. She was removed for Samaria Diaz. Sam got a strikeout, but then gave up a hit
that scored another run to make it 8-7.
Not only was the dropping temperature making me uncomfortable, I was getting
extremely nervous from the tension. It
is an absolutely helpless feeling there in the stands when you see your team
struggling. Thankfully, Sam ended it
with another strikeout. Nikki flipped
the ball in the air with the final call.
Aggies win 8-7!
I’ve never seen a happy crowd vacate a stadium
quicker. Fans were streaming for the
exits to escape the cold wind. Ron
wanted to go immediately. I barely had
time to catch my breath and try to get my heart out of my throat. Amazingly, Ron wanted to go to the baseball
game. I love baseball, but I’d had
enough excitement for the moment and plenty of cold for the day. Besides, Aggie Baseball wasn’t playing a
game; they were taking batting practice.
I talked him out of it, though as it turned out, we would have just been
there about 15 minutes. The Aggies won 16-3 in the seventh on a run
rule. (I guess, Texas Southern had had
enough after three games and asked for it before the game.)
Aggie Softball got away with one here. It’s a good thing the next game had been
canceled. They wouldn’t have had much
pitching left for it, or would have gotten flushed on this one if they’d held
back. While this is a team sport, hand
this victory to Victoria Castro. Her fearless play on offense and defense saved
the game. If Tori keeps this up, she’s
going to be WAC Player of the Year.
There were some good hitting performances today, but I’m
going to single out the pitching. Julie Kestas for the Braves totally
shutdown the Aggies four innings. For
the Aggies, Chloe Rivas did a great
job in relief. She just needs to cut
down on the walks. Samaria Diaz was tough as nails.
(I think she warmed up twice.) I
have to give Kayla Green credit too.
I’m pretty sure I saw Kayla get warmed
up three times during the game, not to mention she had an exhausting
seven-inning complete game yesterday. Her
being out there was pretty gutty.
It feels like this weekend exposed the team a bit. Right field is up in the air. Some other positions feel a bit shaky. The bottom of the lineup is not
producing. I don’t think Kelsey is a
leadoff hitter. Maybe she can grow into
it. Analise and Chloe can hit, but they
need to focus on pitching. Shelby
Shultes probably needs to be the regular DP.
Jerking some reserve players out of the lineup after any mistake feels
like a bad strategy for player management.
There are a bunch of good players on this team. They should come together at some point.
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