Lady Blues softball opens season with rout of City View
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(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s designated player for the evening Zoey Harrell swings at a pitch looking to put it in play for her team during the Lady Blues’ first game of the season Tuesday, Feb. 13. The Lady Blues won 11-0 in five innings against City View. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Reese Calhoun winds up and lets a pitch fly during the Lady Blues’ season-opening win over City View this past Tuesday, Feb. 13. Graham won 11-0 and Calhoun pitched all five innings, in which she struck out 12 opposing hitters. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham second baseman Tiffany Cotter fields a ground ball and tosses to first base for the out during the Lady Blues’ season-opening 11-0 win over the City View Mustangs this past Tuesday, Feb. 13. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham catcher Meagan Brooks slides into home plate and beats the throw home during the Lady Blues’ 11-0 season-opening win over City View this past Tuesday, Feb. 13. -
(TC GORDON | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Graham’s Paris Tate (1) rounds first base and considers heading for second after getting a hit during the Lady Blues’ 11-0 season-opening win over City View this past Tuesday, Feb. 13.
You couldn’t ask for much of a better start to the season than what the Lady Blues softball team got when they defeated the City View Mustangs 11-0 in a five-inning run rule game in their season opener Tuesday, Feb. 13.
The offense fired on all cylinders while starting pitcher Reese Calhoun pitched a gem of a game, throwing all five innings and striking out 12 of the 17 batters she faced. Nearly every player in the starting lineup recorded a hit and the Lady Blues scored in three of the four innings they came to the plate.
“It was an all around good game; that’s a good starting point,” head coach Adam Arrington said. “We’ve just got to keep getting better as the year goes on.”
Calhoun gave up a single to the very first batter she faced in the game, then proceeded to sit down the next 10 in a row before allowing another single. She then finished off the game by striking out four of the last five batters.
Besides the two hits they got, the visiting Mustangs only put three other balls in play, which the Lady Blues defense handled with ease. Graham committed zero errors which was pleasing to Arrington as having a clean defense was something his team struggled with in their scrimmages leading up to the official start of the season.
“Early in some of our scrimmages we had a ton of errors and (tonight) we just made the routine plays and (were) error free,” Arrington said.
While Calhoun was dominating in the circle, the Lady Blues offense backed her up with an early lead right away. Meagan Brooks, the third batter for Graham, hit a triple which was followed up by back-to-back doubles from Emily Lawson and Olga Morales to score two runs.
Although two runs were already more than enough for Calhoun, the Lady Blues continued to pile on in the second inning. Graham batted around in the frame led by three straight singles from the bottom of the order.
Paris Tate reached on an error, Calhoun grounded into a fielder’s choice and then Brooks had her second big hit of the game when she hit an inside-the-park home run. By the time the Lady Blues finished the inning, five runs had crossed the plate and they led 7-0.
In the third inning, Graham went down in order for the only time of the evening. But then in the fourth inning the offense came alive again and plated four more runs to lead 11-0 as they crossed the 10-run mercy rule threshold.
Brooks led the way offensively for the Lady Blues as she went 2-for-2 with a walk, the inside-the-park home run and three runs scored. Lawson went a perfect 3-for-3 with a couple runs scored, as well.
“I thought we came out and hit the ball hard tonight. We’ve been stressing since we started day one, I don’t care how many home runs we hit. I don’t care how many strikeouts (we have) early in the season, we have to come out and hit the ball hard,” Arrington said. “I thought we made some mistakes, but for the most part, one through nine of the lineup, we saw some of the top half and the bottom half hit the ball hard tonight and that was good.”
After two games Friday, Feb. 16, the Lady Blues will stay at home for their next contest which will be Tuesday, Feb. 20 against Rider High School, scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
