Shamrock Softball gets wins over Saranac and Okemos

On Thursday, May 7^th, the St. Patrick’s Varsity Softball team hosted the Redhawks of Saranac. The Shamrocks split with the Redhawks winning 12-10 in Game1, and then losing in extra innings in Game 2, 8-9.

The Shamrocks had hot bats and played hard in both games, but pitching was a struggle to find the zone for the team, and each game became a battle. The team had some uncharacteristic fielding errors and each play became important down the stretch. In Game 1, Gracelyn Rockey went 2/3 with 2 runs, and a Homerun. Naomi Hass went 1/2 with 2 runs. Gracelyn Rockey rallied 3 RBIs, and Lily Sandborn, Naomi Hass, Maria Austen, Macie Leonard and Izzy Anthony each had an RBI for the Shamrocks. Gracelyn Rockey pitched 6.1 innings and Macie Leonard picked up .2 innings to help seal the win.  In Game 2, Gracelyn Rockey went 3/3 with 1 DBL, 2 RBIs, 4 runs, and a Homerun. Maria Austen went 3/4 with 2 runs, 3 RBIs, and an out of the park homerun - the first of what will surely be many Varsity Homeruns for Maria! Marian Davlin and Reese Chamberlain each tallied an RBI as well. Macie Leonard pitched 5 innings, Gracelyn Rockey pitched 2 innings.

Coaching Staff Comments:

Knowing we needed to throw strikes and play great defense this year behind our pitchers, we also accepted that there may be off nights and it was fortunate that the team was able to rally the quality at bats we needed in both games to back up our pitchers. Some of our fielding errors compounded the runners on base, and caused unearned runs to score. We plan to shake off the errors and come back with our typical defense again this weekend, and encourage our pitching staff to work together to keep the competition hitting.

The Shamrocks worked in town on Saturday, May 9^th at the Jack Anderson Tournament.

Game 1: SP 13, Okemos 11

Gracelyn Rockey pitched, and while struggled to find the zone early on, racked up 10 strikeouts and held on for the win. Macie Leonard drove in 2 RBIs, Gracelyn Rockey went 3/4 with 6 RBIs, and a homerun. Lily Sandborn went 2/3, and Marian Davlin and Naomi Hass each added an RBI.

Game 2: SP 1, PHS 11

Macie Leonard pitched and worked to stay in the zone and held on to two strikeouts for the Shamrocks. Macie Leonard drove in the only RBI of this game. Errors and poor at bat offensive opportunities led to compounding unearned runs scoring.

Game 3: SP 2, Dansville 11

Kennedy Drake pitched and had two strikeouts. The Shamrocks had 0 hits against the Aggies, and Macie Leonard and Gracelyn Rockey had the only two runs of the game. Errors were present during this game, however the Shamrocks turned several double plays and had some impressive relays in from the OF to turn into outs for the SP defense.

Coaching Staff Comments:

We had all three pitchers handle their own games today and that was very critical as we enter into the last few weeks of the season. Confidence is continuously growing at the plate and our knowledge of moving runners is growing. While we tallied 0 hits from the Aggies, we learned more about their pitch movement for Thursday’s league play. This week feels like a big week to grow in areas that will help us in the postseason- Fowler, Dansville, and the on the Sacred Heart for our annual Catholic Schools softball tournament. All of this week’s competition will demand our communication and ability to pick up where we are growing and buckle down our fielding errors, and free bases from our pitching over the last few days. Watching us excel in the relays in for outs, see our catchers improve, and our small ball come out in critical plays are the highlights we continue to draw attention to.

On Monday, May 11^th, the Shamrocks hosted the Fowler Eagles and lost both. Game 1 ended 1-17, Kennedy Drake pitched and took the loss. Macie Leonard went 1/1, Lily Sandborn scored the only run, and Gracelyn Rockey had the RBI. In Game 2, the Shamrocks fell 2-21. Macie Leonard and Maria Austen each went 1/2. Gracelyn Rockey had a run, and Maria Austen had an RBI.

Coaches Comments:

The Eagles are solid defensively and while we hit the ball, they tracked it down and took runners away from us making every run count more than the last. Our pitching staff is still working on keeping free runners off. And defensively, while we cleaned up some errors- against a team like Fowler we will have to be close to error free to compete against them. The girls continue to grow and communicate each game and keep a positive mindset despite tough competition.