Bronaugh baseball, softball teams upended by non-con foes

The Bronaugh High School softball and baseball teams were in action Monday evening, as the Wildcats and Lady Wildcats matched up with a pair of non-conference foes.

In a home contest, the Bronaugh boys fell to Jasper, 18-3 — while the Lady ’Cats were tripped up on the road by Lockwood, 16-6.

Trailing Jasper 8-0 in the bottom of the second, Bronaugh (0-3) broke through offensively, plating its first runs of the season to trim the deficit to 8-3.

Jasper, however, tacked on a run in the third, before exploding for seven in the fourth en route to the five inning, 15-run victory.

“I am extremely proud of our team for the continued effort and positive attitude that we play with game in-and-game out,” said Bronaugh boys’ head coach, Jerrod Alexander. “Obviously, we are off to a bad start to the season. When people watch us play, however, it is very evident that our kids give their best effort and stay positive, and don’t quit. That is the thing that sticks out to me at this point in the season.”

Added Alexander: “We know that we have struggled defensively, and we need to get better and continue to work hard on the fundamentals of fielding and throwing the baseball. (We're) having fun and playing hard, and want to play the game the right way and getting better. For us, the focus is, and will continue to be on getting better everyday — and be the best baseball team we can be rolling into districts. We will keep focusing on what we need to do to be the best team we can be."

Alexander said he was impressed with starter Eli Satterfield, who in his firast career start — struck out a pair and scattered four hits over three innings of work, but was saddled with six unearned runs.

"We are very excited about how well Eli threw the ball," said Alexander. "He was inconsistent with his mechanics at times, but he kept a level head and battled the whole time he was out there. I can't say enough about how proud we are of Eli."

In the girls game, the Lady ’Cats (0-2) led 6-2 entering the bottom of the fourth. Lockwood then plated five runs in the fourth and seven in the fifth, and tacked on two more in the sixth for the final 10-run margin.

Bronaugh’s Addie Burgess finished 3-for-3 at the dish, while Lady ’Cats starter Mattie Earnest struck out nine.

“We just have to fix the errors that we are making,” said Bronaugh girls’ head coach, Daryl Dodson. “In the (seven-run)fifth, we had four errors and two walks.”