No. 9 AGWSR takes error-prone contest

ACKLEY – AGWSR co-coach Brenda Drake is fine with a 10-8 game win for her Class 1A No. 9 Cougars.

She just wishes that at least one of the eight runs her team gave up were earned.

“We’re struggling on getting the ball to first base,” Drake said. “We’re struggling catching the ball at first base. And once they get it in their head, then it’s hard to get it out. It becomes a snowball (effect).

“I think some of it is experience, but those are our experienced players who are out there making the errors, so it’s just a matter of fundamental things that you need to do right. If we get too comfortable out there. Like Josie (Winterberg), not turning her shoulder, stepping toward the target, you get in that funk and then it’s hard to get out.”

Six errors by the home team’s defense led to all of BCLUW’s scoring to result in unearned tallies and the Comets held an advantage until a five-run fifth marked by more errors by the visitors.

In all, the two teams combined for 13 miscues.

“We still have work we can do,” Drake said. “That’s a bad thing, too, we haven’t had a practice. It’s nice to have that practice before a BCLUW game because you know they are going to bunt and run and that kind of thing.”

With the exception of a deep fly to right, lead-off hitter MaKenna Kuper was on base four of her five appearances at the plate. She was 2-for-3 with a walk and reached on an error in the sixth.

“That was…a good shortstop would have had that (Kuper pop-up), but that’s a tough play when you are playing deep on Kuper and she drops one in there like that,” Drake said. “We have to be better at coming up to bat with people on base. I’m proud of our base runners. We really worked on base running this season and it’s really taken off. We have some kids out there who are running that got some confidence and looking for that extra base, so that helps us out a lot.”

The second hitter in the lineup, Ali Gerbracht, was 2-for-2 with an RBI triple in that fateful fifth and was credited with two sacrifices, one a bunt that eventually led to the first Cougar run and another an RBI sacrifice fly in the fourth.

Gerbracht finished up the night in relief of Rachel Sicard in the circle, yielding just one walk before getting a ground out to third to end it. Sicard struck out four and walked two while giving up seven hits.

It was AGWSR’s aggressiveness in taking the extra base, especially in the latter innings that helped the Cougars rally.

“That’s one of those things, you’ll get thrown out once in a while, but they’ve got to make a perfect throw,” Drake said. “I like the aggressiveness. I mean, if you look, that’s how BCLUW beats us. Turn around and get that aggressive mindset, come back and be patient at the plate.”

Drake was still preaching patience as her team headed to the East Marshall for the unofficial NICL West conference crown.

“Confidence in knowing they can come back and hit the ball,” Drake said. “(We) still got to be patient up there and look for pitches you can drive instead of pitches that you can hit. They still haven’t quite got that yet.”

Although No. 9 hitter Sidney Schafer didn’t record a hit, she walked three times and also scored in the fifth.

“Schafer has been doing a good job with her at-bat, she’s not going to blow by the ball the outfielder, just patient and getting herself on,” Drake said. “What we need. The bottom of our lineup was helping us out at the start of the year, we need to get that back if we are going to win ball games.”

AGWSR 10, BCLUW 8

BCLUW        150   011   0     -    8     7     6

AGWSR       200   350   x     -  10     8     7

Winning battery– Rachel Sicard, Ali Gerbracht (7) and Gerbracht, Taylor Sperfslage (7). Losing battery – Abby Feldspauch, Kiersten Kruse (5) and Kenna Paxson. Two or more hits– BCLUW (Paxson 3, Kennedy Williams, Emma Averill); AGWSR (MaKenna Kuper, Gerbracht, Alyssa Hames). 2B– BCLUW (Paxson, Emma Hoover); AGWSR (Josie Winterberg, Hames). 3B– BCLUW (Kruse, Paxson). SAC– AGWSR (Gerbracht 2). SB– BCLUW (Kruse); AGWSR (Kuper 2, Sicard, Sperfslage, Avery Lafrenz). HBP– None. RBI– BCLUW (Kennedy Williams 3, Paxson); AGWSR (Kuper, Gerbracht, Winterberg, Hames).