Vinalhaven Softball: First Three Games

We started our first three games with three losses. It sounds sad, I know, but it really is nothing of the sort. We started off the season taking on defending state champions, Richmond, in a couple of games that were suited much more for a fire and a cup of cocoa than for softball. We dropped the first game 27-1 and the second 17-0. It really sounds a lot worse than it was when you write it down. We did a great job on the offensive side of things- only striking out once during the first game and a handful of times in the second. We put the ball in play a ton, but had a little bit of trouble turning hits into outs in the second game. Like I said, it was so cold that I was considering the fact that there was a good possibility my toes would fall off.

Today, we took on 2010 Western Maine Runners-Up, Buckfield. Last year, when we faced this team with this pitcher we left giving her the present of a perfect game. This year, nothing of the sort. The final score of the game was 17-4 (but, hey, we played 7 innings!). I pointed out to the girls that Buckfield gave up 4 runs to Richmond (remember, defending state champions) on Thursday and then 4 runs to us today- bodes well for our offense. We had a lot of really good successes like 2, count them 2, 1-2-3 innings (I love those), game time of approximately 1.5 hours (that's awesome), and some really solid offense and defense.

Kassie started out the game pitching and put in three really solid innings. We had some great defense all around, but particularly awesome were Abby's diving catch and Crash's pick off of a Buckfield player at third base. We also loved Blake's bare handed catch (ouch) and Ashley's knocking down line drives (way to keep it in front of you!). We had great at bats from Eliza (1-2 with 2 walks and 2 runs scored), Alex (2 RBIs) and Blake (2 RBIs). We had great baserunning from Bina (nice Pickle!) and Ryann (she can steal on anyone)!

Now, with three of our most difficult games of the season behind us, we're looking forward to the next stretch of long trips. I'm sure that if we keep our heads up and take everything one play at a time we will do just fine.