Menu
Cottey softball drops two more at home
By Eric Wade
Daily Mail Sports Editor
The Cottey College Comets softball team has spent the first month of the 2014 season struggling to get much of anything accomplished on the field. Those struggles continued Wednesday, as the Comets returned home to take on the Lady Cardinals of Mineral Area College.
As was the case in the season's first 14 games, the Comets were simply unable to get much of anything going on either side of the ball, ultimately allowing Mineral Area to take the doubleheader sweep in dominant fashion, by the final scores of 9-1 and 32-1.
In the opener, Cottey pitcher Christine Nevins took to the pitching circle and struggle, right from the start. After surrendering five hits -- including a three-run homer by Alicia Otero -- Nevins and the rest of the Comets came to bat for the first time in a familiar position, already trailing, 5-0.
In stark contrast to Nevins' early struggles, Mineral Area starter Kimmie Roberts had little trouble dispatching the Comets early in the contest. Through the contest's first three innings, Roberts didn't allow a hit, striking out five Comets.
The Lady Cardinals took advantage of Roberts' dominance once again in the top of the fourth, plating their final four runs of the day on five more hits and a Cottey error. But that wasn't the only action fans were treated to in the frame as Selena Gochenour got the Comets their only run of the contest with a solo home run to left field that bounced off of the roof of a neighboring building.
That was where the offense ended for both squads, as the Lady Cardinals took the eight-run victory in five innings. By the time all was said and done, the Comets were outhit, 14-2, in the contest.
Roberts took the victory, allowing one earned run on two hits with five strikeouts, three walks and two hit batters in five innings of work. Nevins was charged with the loss, allowing nine runs on 12 hits in five innings.
As the day's second game began, it looked as though the opener had been just a warm-up for the visitors, as head coach Dave Guemmer's squad put up more runs in the first inning of the nightcap than the entire first game. By the time all was said and done, the Lady Cardinals plated 13 runs in the first inning of the day's second game, forcing the Comets to open the contest in an even deeper hole.
Things only got worse from there for the Comets, as Mineral Area plated two more runs in the second inning and 10 in the third, opening up a 25-0 lead. With the game already well in hand, Guemmer's squad added its final seven runs of the day in the top of the fourth, opening up a 32-0 lead.
In the home half of the fourth, the Comets got their only run of the contest, as Shirley Arreola-Kern knocked in Gochenour to send the contest to the fifth with Mineral Area holding a 32-1 lead. That was where the offense ended as the two squads both went down quietly in the fifth, handing the Lady Cardinals the 31-run victory -- the worst defeat the Comets have suffered this season.
Starter Maggie Cunningham got the win for Mineral Area, allowing one earned run on four hits with four strikeouts and a walk in four innings. Susie Hartmann took the loss for the Comets, allowing 13 earned runs on eight hits with three walks in one inning of work.
With those losses, the Comets fell to 0-16 on the season and are scheduled to be back in action on Friday, heading back out on the road for a rematch against Mineral Area. The first of two games on the day's schedule is set for 2 p.m., in Park Hills, Mo.