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Nevada softball wallops Cassville in home opener
The results of an impromptu singing competition Tuesday afternoon between the Nevada and Cassville high school softball teams are still up in the air — but there was no doubt who won the game that took place afterward.
The Lady Tigers, who along with the Lady Wildcats and a few courageous fans in attendance took it upon themselves to sing the National Anthem before first pitch when the P.A. system at Bushwhacker Field malfunctioned, harmonized for a 15-4 run-rule victory that evened their record at .500 (3-3) and gave them a leg up in the Big 8 West.
It was music to the ears of NHS first baseman Claire Pritchett.
“It’s awesome. It’s exactly how us seniors wanted it to go,” said Pritchett, who helped the cause by slugging two doubles in the first inning and singling in her only other at-bat in the third.
Though he had some issues with the defense losing focus in the third and fourth innings, Nevada head coach Danny Penn agreed with Pritchett.
“We had a lot of good performances, and the girls should feel good about themselves,” he said. “Really happy to start the home season 1-0 and the conference season 1-0. We continue to remind the girls, we are playing a tough schedule. That’s not an excuse. We want to test ourselves and see where we can turn areas of weakness into strengths. But we also want to enjoy when we come out and put together a solid game like we did today.”
The Lady Tigers responded from a walk-off loss at Webb City the previous day by plating 10 runs in the opening frame against Cassville.
Senior Bailey Ast set the tone with a lead-off triple, then scored on a Caylee Holcomb double. Kirstin Buck drove in Holcomb with a single, before Pritchett belted her first two-bagger, allowing Buck to score easily.
A mound visit did no good for the Lady Wildcats, as Skyler Burns proceeded to rip an RBI single to left. A few batters later, Ast smacked a double with the bases loaded, plating two more. Holcomb then singled to center for another pair of runs.
Buck nearly hit her second home run in as many games, but the ball hit the fence and she had to settle for a double — only to eventually trot home behind Holcomb when Pritchett ripped her second double.
“Really happy with how we started. They weren’t weak, cheap hits. We were hitting the ball hard and spraying it all over the yard,” Penn said. “The thing that I remember is that third inning. We kind of lost focus defensively.”
Freshman pitcher Peyton Eaton retired the side in the first two innings before giving up her first hit to the lead-off batter in the third. Two more hits — an infield single and a base hit to right field — as well as a wild pitch allowed Cassville two scratch across two runs, before a two-out error on a ball hit toward the base at second plated another.
“Unfortunately, it looked like it was following the script from our last couple of games,” said Penn, whose team surrendered a four-run lead to Webb City just 24 hours earlier. “But that 10-run first inning provided us a pretty good margin. We were able to finish the game strong.”
Nevada put the game away with five more runs in the bottom of the fourth when Eaton hit a bases-loaded RBI single, Hailey Hearting (courtesy-running for Eaton) scored on a fielder’s choice, and fellow freshman Ella Heathman drove in two on a bases-loaded double and scooted home on a passed ball.
Cassville managed to add a run in the fifth, but Eaton struck out two (she had seven Ks on the day) and fielded a grounder to seal the win.
“I think we can go really far. We’ve been really far the last couple of years, and I think this is as good or better a team than we’ve ever had,” said Pritchett, who credited the team’s hot starts to pre-game rituals (which now might need to include singing). “Every huddle we do before our games, we just make sure we’re all feeling pretty good and try not to get in our heads.”
Whatever it takes, right, Coach?
“I think the girls actually enjoyed singing it, so good for them,” Penn said. “If it kept them loose, then I’m all for it.”