Lady Gladiators come up short against Rice

Kelly Lewis Posted March 2, 2009 3:15pm Lady Gladiator Softball

Image: Make the stretch Cori! — Cori Jeffords (Junior), at first base, makes the stretch towards the throw. — Make the stretch Cori! — Cori Jeffords (Junior), at first base, makes the stretch towards the throw. (Kelly Lewis)

The Lady Gladiators took to the field Friday night in a non-district game against the Rice Lady Bulldogs. In these two teams’ previous game the Lady Gladiators defeated Rice 5-3. This time…not so much. The final score in this contest was 7-0 in favor of the Lady Bulldogs

Unfortunately for the Lady Gladiators the northern that blew through on Friday cooled off more than just the air. The Lady Gladiators’ bats were frigid as well. Italy was unable to get a string of hits together in order to score any runners. However, Courtney Westbrook, Megan Richards and Alma Suaste broke rank and were the big hitters for the Lady Gladiators batting .1000, .1000 and .500 respectively.

A couple of pitching changes in the 3rd and 6th innings was unable cool off the sticks of the Lady Bulldogs. They kept putting the ball into play causing a few Italy fielding errors which resulted in runs for Rice. The Rice players put the bat on the ball enough to score 7 runs, however, 4 of them unearned. Courtney Westbrook ended up with 4 K’s and Megan Richards ended up with 2 in their joint pitching efforts.

The next game for Lady Gladiators will be agaist Waco-Connally on Monday night, March 2nd, in Italy. Game time is 5:00. Be there!

THANKS COACH COKER!!! — Head Baseball Coach Matt Coker offered his time and expertise last week in adding clay to the very “soft” softball field. He is shown here tweaking the pitchers circle before the game. (Kelly Lewis)

Catching-In — Julia McDaniel catches in for Coach Reeves during pre-game infield drills. (Kelly Lewis)

Lupita Luna — “Pita” during outfield warm-ups. (Kelly Lewis)

Alma Suaste — Alma’s batting was rock solid during the game against Rice, batting a .500. (Kelly Lewis)

Announcers Booth — Erick (ET) Thompson and Joe Windham created a neat atmosphere for the game with music, sound effects and player introductions. (Kelly Lewis)

Khadijah Davis — Khadijah makin’ a throw. (Kelly Lewis)

Drenda Burke — Drenda taking outfield practice during the warm-ups. (Kelly Lewis)

Abby Griffith — “Abby-G” takes ground balls before the game. (Kelly Lewis)

Meeting at the plate — The coaches have their pre-game meeting at the plate with the umpires. (Kelly Lewis)

Introductions — Lead off batter and starting pitcher, Courtney Westbook, is introduced before the game. (Kelly Lewis)

Knuckle Knock — Julia McDaniel knocks knuckles with the umpires during her introduction. (Kelly Lewis)

Megan “Rich” Richards — After greeting the umpires, Megan enters the field to take her defensive position. (Kelly Lewis)

Nikki Brashear — Nikki shakes the hands of the officials before taking her position in the outfield. (Kelly Lewis)

Alma Suaste — Alma batted a .500 during this evenings contest. (Kelly Lewis)

Defensive position — Courtney is ready for anything as Megan strides out during her pitch. (Kelly Lewis)

Three Down! — The Lady Gladiators come off the field after putting an end to Rice’s turn at bat. (Kelly Lewis)

A Shot — Drew Windham connects with the ball. (Kelly Lewis)

Collision — Drew Windham (short stop) takes in a throw by catcher, Julia McDaniel, and tags the runner out that attempts to steal second base. (Kelly Lewis)

Stats — Coaches Reeves and Richards study the Lady Gladiator defense while Paige Westbrook (7th grade manager) works hard keeping stats. (Kelly Lewis)

Drew anticipates — Drew Windham anticipates a throw down to third while Megan stays light on her feet. (Kelly Lewis)

Setting up — Courtney Westbrook sets-up to catch a fly ball. (Kelly Lewis)