NHS softball trounces Smith-Cotton 16-9, falls to Pleasant Hill

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada Tigers softball team put on an offensive display Thursday, beating Sedalia Smith Cotton on the road, 16-9.

The Tigers are 7-6 on the season.

"Overall I'm proud of the girls' effort," Assistant Coach Danny Penn said. "It was a chillier night than we've become accustomed to lately, and it took an inning for us to get into a groove. Once we got past the point of thinking we were cold, I was very happy with how we swung the bats for the most part. Sixteen hits speaks for itself."

Carsten Warner had a monster game for Nevada, going 4-for-5 at the plate with a home run, 4 runs, 4 RBIs, and a pair of stolen bases.

Other top performers on the day for Nevada, were Mallorie Owen, who went 3-for-5 with two doubles, a run and 3 RBIs; Michaela Brewer was 2-for-5 with two doubles, a run, 2 RBIs and stolen base; Reagan Bradley swiped two bags to go along with two doubles; while Taylor Remington also had two doubles and two stolen bases.

"We also drew seven walks, so we did a good job of not helping their pitchers out too much," Penn said. "There were still a couple of times where we swung too early in the count at a borderline pitch, but a lot of our hitters capitalized on pitches that were left up in the zone.

"Carsten Warner led our offense. While her home run speaks for itself, I was extremely proud of the way she didn't try to do too much in her following at-bats and hit the ball hard up the middle in subsequent at-bats.

"Reagan Bradley and Madi Culbertson did a great job of getting on base ahead of the middle of our order. Together, Reagan and Madi were on base seven times."

Tigers junior Madi Culbertson also chipped in with a pair of doubles and a pair of runs. However, Penn felt she still had room to improve.

Nevada's other Maddie, starting pitcher Maddie Hedges, had an up and down night.

"I think it was a tough night for Maddie in the circle," Penn said. "The umpire was squeezing her a little bit, especially on the corners; as a result she was forced to throw more pitches over the meat of the plate, resulting in a few hard-hit balls.

"That said, she competed and allowed her defense to work behind her."

With the victory, Hedges improved to 6-2 on the year.

Pleasant Hill, 15, Nev. 5

The Nevada Tigers girls' softball team fell to the Pleasant Hill Chicks, 15-5 in five innings, Friday afternoon at Bushwhacker Field.

Carsten Warner started the game for the Tigers, but was replaced by southpaw Mallorie Owen in the top of the second inning, with Nevada trailing 6-0.

Read Tuesday's edition for a full recap of the game.