By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Head coach Steve Govero said there was a lot of emotion surrounding Springfield Catholic’s softball opener on Tuesday.
“Coming down on the bus they were giddy starting out and then the closer we got the quieter they got,” he said. “Everybody started thinking like hey, what are we going to do now?”
It was a day more than a year in the making as the Lady Irish took to the field for the first softball game in school history. That milestone was supposed to happen 364 days earlier, but then the COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of spring sports.
And so Tuesday’s road game against College Heights, played at the Joplin Athletic Complex, was finally a day of firsts.
Sophomore Brooklyn Barnes threw the team’s first pitch, and earned the first strikeout with runners at second and third in the bottom of the first. She escaped a bases-loaded jam by coaxing a fly out to center field.
Sophomore Larissa Holland recorded the team’s first out when she scooped up a grounder at third base and stepped on the bag for a force out.
Freshman Katie Galligos had the team’s first at bat and saw four pitches before fouling out to right field.
The first baserunner was Barnes, who reached safely on a dropped third strike in the top of the second and then stole the team’s first base. Galligos drew the first walk in the third inning.
The team’s first base hit and first victory will have to wait, though, after the Lady Irish ran into a dominant pitching effort from College Heights freshman Madelyn Colin. She struck out 10 batters and helped the Lady Cougars earn a 15-0 win in the fourth inning.
“We spent three weeks working, trying to get things, finding people to go in some positions and today things didn’t work out real well,” Govero said. “We had three of our position players who were out; two were sick and one didn’t make enough practices so that kind of threw us behind the eight ball to start with but the kids that got out here, they tried, they put forward a good effort. We’re going to come out Friday and go again.”
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Barnes, who pitched three innings and struck out three, said she was glad to get her first pitch in.
“It was hard but there were a lot of good players out there and I hope we do good next time,” she said.
“It was a good team that we played and we can do a lot better,” she said.
Barnes said her biggest takeaways were the need for more confidence and more communication.
Govero noticed the team’s determination and lack of quit.
“We had some good swings at some balls,” he said. “This is their first major live pitching they’ve faced in over a year. My third baseman (Holland) was really good. She did a nice job at third. My outfielders Sam (Fry) and Hannah Holum all made some real good catches earlier in the game. My catcher Katie Galligos did a great job behind the plate. It was her first game catching. We had some good stuff. Brooklyn on the mound she struggled a little bit getting the ball down but when she did she made some good pitches. She had a few strikeouts. They put the ball in play because they’ve been playing for a while. We’re going to catch up.”
College Heights, which pairs with McAuley Catholic for softball, led 5-0 after three innings, scoring three times in the second with singles from sophomore Jayline Johnson and freshman Kloee Williamson. The Lady Cougars added two in the third when sophomore Addison Lawrence singled and senior Avery good followed with an inside-the-park home run over the left fielder.
Johnson singled and doubled in the 10-run fourth and Williamson, Good, sophomore Lauren Ukena and Colin also singled, while senior Layne Jackson added a double. Colin and Lawrence drew walks and sophomore Aaliyah Perez-Villa was hit by a pitch.
Colin ended the game with a single to left to score Johnson from third.
Johnson and Good each went 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBI’s. Williamson was 2-for-3 with four runs driven in and Lawrence and Ukena each scored twice. Jackson, Johnson and Williamson each stole bases.
Colin allowed just one walk to go along with her 10 strikeouts in the no-hitter.
“Maddy, she’s just super consistent,” College Heights coach Mike Howard said. “She’s only a freshman but she’s played a lot of travel ball. She’s played many games leading up to this year and she’s been in those situations. She’s a great pitcher and we have all the faith in the world in her to go out there and lead us defensively.”
Holum pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief for the Lady Irish and struck out one.
“It’s a goal as a team to be aggressive on the base paths,” Howard said. “We knew going into this game this was Springfield Catholic’s inaugural game and so I looked at their roster and knew they had some young girls on their team so we just wanted to put some extra pressure when we got on base and steal those bases but give them credit. They’ve got a young team but they’re really mature for their age. They played a good game for their first one.”
Govero said Catholic’s focus ahead of Friday’s Pleasant Hope Invitational is to get the team’s backup players on the same level as its starters in terms of familiarity with their positions.
“They’re a good group of kids and they want to play and they want to learn,” he said. “Every time they come in they’re asking questions about what do we need to do, what do we need to improve on.”
