Softball: PACT vs Mounds Park Academy

On Wednesday, April twelfth, the softball team had a game against Mounds Park Academy. They won with a score of 13-3. Their game was held across from the school at The Draw. They believe they won because they were the more experienced team in this game. But they do hope to improve their hitting and communication.

In softball, wins and losses often come down to the pitcher. For this game, captain Aliya Johnston pitched. Callie Fries said that she did really well. Their coach added on saying, “Aliya gained the win.” She only let the other team get three funs and three hits. He also that that she “contributed two doubles and scored twice.”

Callie also said that Aislinn Parten is “very beneficial at second base, because she talks to the team and gets into the game. She cheers and is good at her position.” Megan Farrell was also really good. “She had a really nice hit out to left field, giving the team two RBI’s.” An RBI stands for “runners batted in.” It’s a statistic in both baseball and softball that gives credit to the batter for making a play that brings another player home, giving the team a point.

Overall the team did really well. The score of the game was 13-3. The girls scored in every inning. Our team received 11 hits and 11 walks. They had good teamwork and have been greatly improving on communicating with each other in the field. They only had one strikeout. Their coach said that they “won a game they should have won.” Throughout the whole game they only mad one error in the field. They did just about everything right.

Callie had provided this recap for the game, “We won, we pretty much got 3 up 3 down, which means 3 outs right in a row, there weren’t really any fielding mistakes.” Sounds like the ladies softball team played very well, but here is a more accurate recap of the game by the varsity softball coach:

Coach:

[if !supportLists]● [endif]PACT Charter Panthers Varsity jumped out to an early lead over Mounds Park Academy and took home a 13-3 victory on Wednesday. PACT Charter Panthers Varsity scored on a triple by Becca Matlon in the first inning.

[if !supportLists]● [endif]PACT Charter Panthers Varsity took an early lead in the first inning. A sacrifice bunt by Sarah Nelson scored one run for PACT Charter Panthers Varsity.

[if !supportLists]● [endif]PACT Charter Panthers Varsity scored five runs in the sixth inning. The big inning was thanks to a groundout , a double by Megan Farrell, and a double by Aislinn Parten.

[if !supportLists]● [endif]Aliya Johnston earned the win for PACT Charter Panthers Varsity. She went six innings, surrendering three runs, three hits, and striking out five.

[if !supportLists]● [endif]PACT Charter Panthers Varsity had 11 hits in the game. Megan Pangier, Parten, Farrell, and Johnston each collected multiple hits for PACT Charter Panthers Varsity. Pangier led PACT Charter Panthers Varsity with three hits in four at bats. PACT Charter Panthers Varsity stole eight bases during the game as three players stole more than one. Parten led the way with two.

The other team did play a role in why PACT won. They really struggled during this game. Their pitcher was pitching a lot “balls” which resulted in our players getting walked to first base. Callie Fries said that they had a lot of field errors, such as; missed pop flies and grounders going under their gloves. Coach Zimmerman said that “MPA is not a strong team…” He also said that they were flawless in field “but was no match for PACT hot hitting and experience players.” The other team only managed to get 3 hits.

A “ball” means that the pitcher pitches a ball that is either lower than the knees, or higher than the shoulders. If a pitcher pitches a “ball” three times then the batter gets to walk to first base. A pop fly is a high fly ball hit to the infield. And a grounder is a ball that rolls or bounces along the ground after the batter hits it.

Callie thinks that they won their game because they had good communication and they had a solid infield. She also said that they have been improving a lot this year which has helped. “We have gotten our errors under control for the most part.” Their coach said that they won because we were a more experienced team and were better at hitting.

They still have some improvements to make though. In the future they should work on their hitting and work on getting in front of the ball to make sure they stop it. Callie said that they need to “keep on improving, keep on playing hard and keep on communication.” If they keep working on this stuff then “we can succeed” said Callie. Coach said that they need to keep improving on getting their pitching under control and reduce the amount of walks the other team gets. Their coach also said that they are reaching their goal of a .500 average and their hopes of making it to the top half of the Section.

They have some difficult games coming up but Callie said that if they work hard, do their best and listen to their coach's advice that they can hopefully keep their winning streak. They have a tournament in Morris MN coming up, where they will face three good teams. Coach said that the season will begin to get tougher as they start playing some higher up teams. Coach said that they are off to a great start and are 6-3 overall.

The softball team would love more fans cheering them on and encouraging them throughout their games. As a student at PACT you get in free to their games. So get out there and support our girls as they work hard to go as far as they can. So come support and cheer!