By STU SWARTZ
THE GOSHEN NEWS
Fri, May 16 2008
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An opportunity was there for the Goshen High School softball Lady Redskins. They just couldn’t make it happen.
Trailing Northern Lakes Conference leader Elkhart Memorial 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning Monday at Shanklin Park, the Redskins had the bases loaded with nobody out.
One big hit could have changed the complexion of this game and had Goshen fans entertaining ideas of a big upset.
Instead, Memorial junior pitcher Erin Burleson struck out two batters and the third out was recorded on a caught stealing to snuff out the Redskin rally hopes.
Memorial then took advantage of some shaky Goshen defense, scoring four runs in the fifth inning and one more in the sixth for a 6-0 final tally.
The Crimson Chargers are now 15-4 overall and 9-0 in the NLC. Goshen is 8-10 and 3-7.
Wednesday, Goshen journeys to Plymouth and Memorial visits Concord.
“It’s getting to be a mental things when we play the better NLC teams like Memorial and Northridge,” said Redskin coach Lee Mast.
“You must stay focused every play to have a chance of winning. We had some mental breakdowns at the wrong time in this game and you can’t do that against teams like Memorial.
“It will be interesting to see how the girls respond Wednesday when we go to Plymouth.
“I thought Natalie Newell (freshman) did a great job pitching for us again as she always does. The past couple weeks, she has really matured a lot as a varsity pitcher. She is very determined and wants the ball in tough situations.
“In that fourth inning, we just needed to put a ball in play somewhere. A run or two might have changed the game.
“We’ll just keep trying to get better because we have a tough (Class 4A) sectional coming up in a couple weeks with teams like Memorial, Northridge, Warsaw, Concord and Central.”
Newell retired the first 10 Memorial batters before senior Amanda Frank hit a ball which went for a triple and she scored when a pitch got away at home plate.
Junior Emily Kerns was safe on an infield roller to start Goshen’s half of the fourth. Freshman Kaitlyn Troyer bunted safely with Kerns racing to third and, after Troyer stole second, Newell was walked intentionally to fill the bases.
That’s when Burleson proved she is a 10-1 pitcher by getting out of the jam.
Junior Britta Abney had the only other Goshen hit, an infield single in the sixth. Newell hit a fly ball which went for a two-base error in the second and senior Amy VanderMolen had a nice sacrifice bunt.
The Redskins executed a double play on defense in the sixth when Newell struck out a batter and catcher Troy threw to second baseman Abney to erase a Memorial baserunner.
Memorial won the JV game, 11-0, at Shanklin. No details were reported.
Goshen’s next home game is Friday against Concord and it will be “Senior Night.”
Krista Meade, Amy VanderMolen and Stephanie Cook are seniors on the GHS softball varsity.
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