Lady Devils split pair as win streak halts at 11
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:31 AM PDT
By Rick McCorkle
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E-mail this articleThe Lower Columbia College softball team used Monday's practice to work on fielding bunts and shallow outfield fly balls, and hitting inside pitches.
Unfortunately, a lot of Monday's work was forgotten when it came to Tuesday's NWAACC Southern Division doubleheader against Clackamas at Tam O'Shanter Park.
The Cougars used a combination of bloop hits, along with shoddy glovework by LCC, to claim a 6-3 victory in the opener. The Devils used the long ball to forge a 5-2 victory in the nightcap.
The loss in the opener snapped LCC's winning streak at 11 games. The Devils are now 28-7, 12-6 in league, while Clackamas is 17-18, 10-10 in league.
"The first game should've been 3-0 because Carri (O'Neil) threw a great game," LCC coach Tim Mackin said. "We gave up a couple of ground balls, but when they (the Cougars) started bunting, we threw the ball around like we were a 12-and-under team. I'm baffled, because we practiced fielding bloopers and bunts, then we turn around and do that."
O'Neil scattered nine hits, struck out six and walked one in absorbing the loss.
Clackamas took advantage of two bloopers and a pair of LCC throwing gaffes en route to scoring four runs in the fourth inning, and drilled a double that knocked home two baserunners who reached on bloopers in the seventh.
"When it rains, it pours," Mackin said. "When we make a mistake and throw the ball around, the flood gates open for a couple of runs."
LCC scored twice in the third when Camy Way belted a line drive down the left-field line that scored Samantha Petrich and Jessi Hanna, and added a solo run in the fifth on a home run to left by Petrich.
The Devils ran themselves out of the game in the seventh through a lack of heads-up baserunning. Courtney Sherman led off the inning with a base hit and was lifted for pinch-runner Tasia Trochim, who went to second one out later on a single from Petrich.
Hanna followed with a bloop single that bounced out of the glove of a diving Clackamas right fielder. Instead of stopping at first, Hanna galloped to second where she was met by Petrich, who was retreating back to the bag when Trochim went halfway toward home before returning to third.
Hanna was caught in a pickle, and was eventually tagged out before returning to first. Hayley Ridout followed with a pop-out to second base to end the game.
"That fly ball could've been caught, so Tasia went halfway and returned back to third because she would've been thrown out at the plate," Mackin said. "Samantha and Jessi were on the move because they knew the ball was going to drop. They're both so aggressive on the basepaths, and they were on Tasia so both had to retreat. Jessi got caught in the pickle and then we were done."
LCC managed eight hits off Clackamas pitcher Renee Santos, but also struck out five times on inside pitches.
"We're still hitting the ball off her because she's not throwing as well as last season, but we need to turn on the inside pitch instead of standing and watching," Mackin said. "I'm hoping these are learning situations, because we're a good team and we proved it when we played in the Crossover Tournament and scored runs on base hits."
The Devils went to their long-ball attack in the nightcap. LCC scored three runs in the third inning when O'Neil belted a solo home run, and Petrich added a two-run bomb that followed a double from Anna Owen.
In the sixth, Way drilled a solo homer over the right-center field fence, and O'Neil hit an RBI single that scored pinch-runner Amber Diimmel after Sherman roped a single to left field.
The run support was more than enough for Trochim, who checked Clackamas on four hits and struck out seven.
"Tasia also did a great job pitching," Mackin added. "We hit a few home runs in the second game that we set up with a couple of base hits."
The Lady Devils entertain Southwestern Oregon in a doubleheader at Tam O'Shanter Park on Thursday.
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