Attention to detail and solid pitching were the crucial factors for the Mount Si softball team, which split a win and a loss last week.
The Mount Si girls fought hard but fell to a solid Bellevue team last Monday, April 6.
Despite a late rally, the Wildcats fell to the Wolverines 5-4 as Bellevue pitcher Emily Fleischman dominated for most of the first six innings.
The Wolverines broke out to a 4-0 lead after two innings, taking advantage of continued struggles on the mound by Mount Si pitcher Alex Johnson. Bellevue scored a pair of runs in the first, then did so again in the second. Key in the first for the Wolverines was senior Carly Brog, whose double drove in Taylor Cooke, then Brog herself scored on a steal of home as part of a double steal. Then in the second, Cooke grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Kenzie Carlson, which was followed by a Fleischman single which scored Katie Bustamante.
Maura Murphy was the big bat for Mount Si; she scored a run in the sixth to put the Wildcats on the board. She reached base on an error by the right fielder, who appeared to lose it in the sun. “It’s really hard as outfielders to adjust to the sun,” Murphy said. “It’s a new thing coming on, but I always run them out.
“It’s one of my biggest pet peeves to just stop and not run it out, so I always run every play out,” she added.
The freshman’s hit was the big blow in the seventh, allowing Savannah Maddux and Carly Weidenbach to score to make things close.
Murphy scored herself on a Danielle Massengill single.
“Maura’s an outstanding player,” said coach Larry White. “For a young girl, she just makes the most of every opportunity and boy, she plays hard.”
With Massengill on first as the tying run, Danielle Covello hit a grounder which was quickly picked up by Fleischman, who threw to first for the final out and allowed the Wolverines to escape.
For White, focus on detail was the main factor for his team.
“The last two innings, we started putting the ball in play and they started making some mistakes,” the coach said. “It kind of goes back to one of my old sayings, ‘It’s the little things.’ It’s the difference between winning and losing, and right now we’re not executing those little things.”
Murphy and Maddux each had doubles, while the freshman and Massengill both had two hits apiece. Mount Si’s third baseman praised Fleischman, but added that her team has work to do
“She was pitching good pitches,” Massengill said. “They were at a good speed. I think we should have hit a lot better than we did, but we picked up the intensity later in the game.”
“We just need to start and come out with that intensity no matter who we’re playing,” she added.
Mount Si went to Liberty last Tuesday, April 7, and got a solid pitching performance from freshman Anisa Wingnese to beat the Patriots 4-2.
The Wildcats Wednesday at host a Mercer Island team at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, that once again is expected to be cellar-dwellers in Kingco 3A. Mount Si is at Juanita Friday.
