By Shawn Stinson
Pendleton softball coach Charlie Padgett continues to praise the fight in his team. His lone concern is having his players avoid the mistakes and errors.
Padgett said his team displayed the fight when battling regional rival Moorefield by rallying to tie the game in the top of the fifth inning. Unfortunately for the Lady Wildcats, one inning with a handful of errors and miscues was their undoing in an 8-3 loss to the Lady Yellow Jackets on April 5 in Moorefield.
“We had a couple of errors in the fifth,” Padgett said. “Moorefield played small ball. We tried, but we forgot how to in the first couple of innings.”
Officials were forced to postpone several contests due to rainy weather in the area. Pendleton had its game with Tygarts Valley called off as well as its initial home game against Tucker County. The field was wet which moved the team’s practice indoors. Padgett said it is difficult to work on items when forced inside the school’s gymnasium.
“That’s just spring ball in West Virginia,” Padgett said. “In practice they do most things right. We are always going to have errors, but we just can’t have them all in the same inning.”
Moorefield scored single runs in the first and fourth innings to take a 2-0 lead. Pendleton battled back to score twice in the fifth to tie the contest.
The Lady Yellow Jackets took advantage of the miscues to plate five runs in the bottom of the fifth to seize a 7-2 advantage. The Lady Wildcats (2-3) attempted to rally, scoring once in the sixth, but the Lady Yellow Jackets tacked on another run to account for the final score.
Bailey Beachler went 3 for 3 with a home run and a triple for Pendleton in the loss. Kate Hedrick added a double and scored twice. Ally Vance hurled the complete game for the Lady Wildcats and struck out three in six innings.
“Ally pitched well,” Padgett said. “The timely hitting is not there for us, but it seems to be for the opponents.”
Pendleton was slated to return to action April 12 when it played host to East Hardy. Pendleton will hit the road today to face Pocahontas County in a doubleheader. The team will welcome Frankfort to Franklin at 2 p.m. Saturday for a doubleheader. The Lady Wildcats and the Lady Yellow Jackets will do battle again at 6 p.m. April 19 in Franklin.
