Some hitters swing better than others in pressure
situations.
Time and again, the Woodland Park bats overcame tension on Aug.
29, delivering clutch hits in a tight game with Air Academy. The
Panthers scored six runs with two outs in a 7-5, nine-inning
victory.
Several Woodland Park two-out hits came with two strikes.
First-year coach Josh Jacobs emphasizes contact and quality swings
at the plate with his players.
“It was really nerve wrecking standing up there with two strikes
and two outs,” senior first baseman Lauren West said. “I tried to
focus and do my best.”
West’s best effort was two, two-out singles and four RBI’s. Her
line drive up the middle in the top of the ninth inning scored what
proved to be the winning runs.
“We’ve never done that,” senior pitcher Amber Williams said of
the team’s clutch hitting. “Usually we strike out when we have two
strikes on us, especially when there’s two outs.”
With the Panthers down 2-1 in the fourth, Williams led off with
a double to left, her first of three hits. Two outs later, Williams
still on second, sophomore Brittany Roycraft ripped a ball off the
Kadet first baseman’s glove for an RBI single.
Trailing 3-2 in the fifth with two outs, West hit an 0-2 pitch
to left, driving in sophomores Alex Rubin and Alex
Huntington.
“Just putting the bat on the ball, that’s all we have to do to
make things happen,” Jacobs said. “We battled the whole game. And
they battled. It was a great game.”
Air Academy scored an unearned run in the seventh to tie the
game at four and send it to extra innings. But Williams kept her
team in line to win in the extra frames, working a quick eighth
inning.
Junior Natalie Funkhouser drove in the go-ahead run for Woodland
Park in the ninth, singling home Huntington. After Williams
pummeled her second double to left, West drove in her second pair
of runs with two down.
“Lauren came up huge,” Jacobs said. “We got her comfortable and
she hit the ball really well for us.”
The Kadets added a run in the bottom of the ninth before
Williams recorded the final out with her 15th strikeout. She gave
up three unearned runs in the win, her second of 2006.
“That’s just a gutsy performance,” Jacobs said of Williams’ nine
innings pitched. “She’s a gamer. She works hard and she wants to
win.”
Williams had her tonsils removed just before the season began.
She became ill after the procedure but battled through it on the
field.
“I’m really tired,” Williams said with a laugh, a bag of ice
clinging to her right arm after the victory. “We’re going to win a
lot more.”
Beating 5A Air Academy represents a large stride for the
Panthers. The win reinforces the positive outlook Jacobs is
instilling in the program.
“Any time you can beat a larger school it’s always a confidence
builder,” Jacobs said. “It lets the girls know we can win and we
can compete.”
“It’s unbelievable how much we’ve learned already,” West said.
“It will be fun to watch us get even better and better as every
game goes on.”