Cardinals cap rally for victory
WCHS holds off Ben Holt in back-and-forth battle
Due to scheduling, the Woodland Christian High School varsity softball team hasn’t played in too many competitive games this season.
However, the Cardinals (9-4) certainly did on Wednesday night at Tyson Miller Memorial Field. Woodland Christian trailed 3-1 after two innings of play against Ben Holt College Prep Academy (8-7) of Stockton, but that didn’t last for long.
The Cardinals scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning and never looked back, going on to win 11-5. In total, Woodland Christian scored one in the first frame, three in the third, one in the fourth, two in the fifth and four in the sixth to put the game away.
“That’s the resilience that comes with our players,” said Cardinals coach Christie Miller. “We just continue to preach to them that they have to learn to make adjustments. Second and third time through the lineup, they started to make those adjustments at the plate and the score reflects that.”
Woodland Christian was led to the win by catcher Teagan Hayes, who has been absolutely crushing the ball as of late. The stupendous sophomore was 2-for-3 at the plate Wednesday and racked up a game-high five RBI, three runs scored and took a pitch to the spine without any facial reaction.
“I think it’s confidence in the box and confidence throughout the game,” Hayes said. “Keeping everybody’s heads up after maybe not doing so great in an at bat. Just confidence in keeping people pumped up and in the right mindset.”
Hayes tied the game in the third inning with an RBI triple that just barely stayed inside the chalk in left field to score two runs. She put the game out of reach with a line-drive
three-run home run to deep center field with two on and two out in the bottom of the sixth frame. The homer was Hayes’ sixth in the last five games.
Hayes said postgame that her hot streak has been the result of focusing on hitting off a tee and her fundamentals.
“She’s just seeing the ball so well right now and she puts in a lot of work at practice and outside of practice,” Miller said. “It shows in her stats during the game and it’s a great pick-me-up for the team, they love it.”
Junior third baseman Macie Timothy also had a strong day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
Freshman pitcher Maggie Wurzel (7-2) got the win in the circle for the Cardinals on Wednesday. She started and pitched 3.1 innings, allowing four hits, four runs (two earned), six walks and two wild pitches with one strikeout on 62 pitches.
“Maggie has held it down all season for us,” Miller explained. “She was a little bit off today.”
Junior Emily Garcia pitched in relief of Wurzel and entered the game in the fourth inning. Garcia finished the game, pitching 3.2 innings and allowing three hits, one earned run and three walks with four punch-outs on 67 pitches.
“Emily, without hesitation, came right in and she threw a fantastic game,” Miller proclaimed.
Next up for Woodland Christian is a road game at Fairfield (6-12) on Friday at 4 p.m.
“I think it should be good competition but we’ll just push through and it should be a good game,” Hayes foreshadowed.