Cleveland puts hurt on Gators|[09/19/07]
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 19, 2007
With two starters out with season ending injuries, the Vicksburg Missy Gators’ softball season has unraveled.
Division 3-4A leader Cleveland barely broke a sweat in beating Vicksburg 11-1 in six innings Tuesday afternoon at Halls Ferry Park. The run-rule win leaves the Lady Wildcats unbeaten in division play at 6-0 with just two games to go while Vicksburg (4-10, 2-4) is barely clinging to fourth place in a five-team division.
VHS coach Laura Coulter said the loss of starters Mary Quinn DeRossette (foot) and Juwanda Bingham (ankle) have left the team scrambling to maintain a competitive lineup.
“Having two starters out for the season has really hurt us. I can’t seem to get people in the right place because we’re having to move so many around,” Coulter said. “We had several errors today in the infield. Nothing much else to tell. We didn’t hit the ball.”
Vicksburg had just three hits in the game, all coming in its last two at-bats.
Down 11-0 in the sixth, they avoided a shutout when Brittany King and Kaci Flaherty led off with singles. Both were later forced out at third and home plate but Kristi Shelby, who had reached on a fielder’s choice, managed to score on an overthrow by the Lady Wildcat catcher to make it 11-1.
Cleveland (14-6) was coming off a tough 9-8 loss to Warren Central Monday night in Cleveland but was able to shake off that disappointment by building a 9-0 lead through five innings.
“We let that one against Warren Central slip away, but they deserve a lot of credit for coming back,” Cleveland coach David Price said. “We had a five run lead and made only one error, but they had 18 hits and brought a lot of pressure on us. It was good to come back today and win a district game. We’re in first place with two left.
“When we hit, we can be pretty tough because our defense is going to be solid. Our question has been our offense,” Price said.
Cleveland didn’t need to do much on offense as walks and five errors plagued the Missy Gators.
Min Kandia walked three times and scored twice to lead the Lady Wildcats. Ally Hargett had two hits and scored twice while Lindsey Mullin had two runs scored.