When the defense was going, the hitting didn’t follow. When the hitting was going, the defense didn’t follow.
Van-Far played its first two home softball games of the season on …
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When the defense was going, the hitting didn’t follow. When the hitting was going, the defense didn’t follow.
Van-Far played its first two home softball games of the season on Saturday in a triangular and lost both games: 5-0 to Jamestown and 18-8 to Palmyra in six innings. The Lady Indians (0-6) struck out 10 times in a close loss to Jamestown (3-2) but then a season-high 15 hits wasn’t enough against Palmyra (4-3).
Head coach Cameron Huff said the defense played well against Jamestown and four of the earned runs Adyson Barnett allowed in seven innings came on a three-RBI home run by Zoey Borts. Van-Far started strong with four runs in the first inning against Palmyra and cut its deficit to 10-6 in the fourth inning but allowed the Lady Panthers to score in every inning but the third.
“There were ups and downs,” Huff said. “We got to put hitting and defense together. Both those teams are good teams. Palmyra competed with Louisiana and beat Mark Twain last night — two teams that run-ruled us last year. And we competed with them.”
Elliott Utterback went 3-for-3 with a double against Jamestown, and Mylee Keller had a double. Utterback and Keller both had good games against Palmyra as well as Utterback finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs and Keller went 3-for-4 with three runs.
More Lady Indians joined the fun at the plate against Palmyra, including Ashlynn Grammer going 2-or-4 with two RBIs during her tough outing in the circle. Kenya Jones had two RBIs, and Ashlyn Marshall went 2-for-3 with her first career home run swatted over the left-center field fence.
The four first inning runs weren’t hit hard but found open spots in the Palmyra defense. A low fly ball from Utterback dropped over the infield, and Jones hit a chopper through the right side. They eventually turned into well-struck balls that Huff expects to see.
“That’s the standard,” Huff said. “I know we can hit. We got to let the ball travel, and good things happen when you put the ball in play.”
The defense struggled particularly against Palmyra as was the case during much of Van-Far’s first four games. While some plays weren’t technically errors, Huff said there were instances when the defense could have been smoother like on balls thrown to bases that allowed extra runs to score.
Huff said he and the Lady Indians will make an effort cleaning up the defense when it has practice time. On stretches when the schedule is packed, like with three games in three days this week, it is more difficult. Van-Far plays at Paris (3-0) at 5 p.m. today and hosts Eastern Missouri Conference foe Louisiana (4-1) at 5 p.m. Thursday.
“That comes from us being young and developing,” Huff said. “We definitely have to clean that up. When we do have practice time, that’s what we’ve talked about.”
