McDonough softball picks up win over Patuxent
Anderson’s pitching, hitting leads Rams past Patuxent
The McDonough softball team rallied from a 2-0 first-inning deficit in Friday’s home game against Patuxent, to defeat the Panthers 6-5 in a Southern Maryland Athletic Conference nondivision contest.
Alexis Anderson was the winning pitcher, throwing 10 strikeouts and allowing just three hits and one earned runs in the complete seven innings. The win was McDonough’s first of the season.
“We’re a doubted team, so coming out and winning, it’s definitely a big thing. Especially when we just went 0-2,” Anderson said. “So, I think everyone’s confidence just shot up. No one really had a bad game.”
Anderson also helped McDonough (2-2 overall after a 16-1 win over Great Mills on Monday) and herself on the offensive end, going 2 for 4 at the plate with a triple and a double, and scoring each of the three times she reached base.
Patuxent (2-4 after a 9-5 win over Lackey on Monday) jumped ahead of the Rams in the first inning on two errors and a walk. After Anderson walked leadoff hitter Kelsey Sears, Kylie Sears advanced her sister on a bunt that was mishandled. The Sears sisters both scored on another error later in the inning. In all, the Rams committed five errors.
“I know that my team and my defense is behind me, and they’re going to pick me up. Whether I’m struggling or they’re struggling, we’re going to pick each other up,” Anderson said. “That’s just how our team works. It’s something we practice, picking each other up.”
McDonough cut the two-run
deficit in half in the bottom of the inning after Anderson reached base on a triple. Reed Butler drove her in on a single. The Rams tied the game in the following inning when Morgan Schlege hit a double to bring home Quianna Willett, who reached base on a single.
Patuxent would take the lead once more, in the third inning, before McDonough’s offense finally proved to be too formidable. Kelsey Sears led off the inning with a double and was driven in by Haylee McClanahan to give the Panthers a 3-2 lead. Kelsey Sears went 1 for 3 on the day with three runs scored. Kylie Sears also went 1 for 3. McClanahan went 1 for 4. Anderson didn’t give up another earned run the rest of way.
“Alexis did a great job,” McDonough head coach Julie Snavely said of her starting pitcher. “We go out there everyday, just ask her to throw strikes. Her defense has got to play the game. She did her job today.
“It was shaky defense in the beginning. Stuff we work on all the time, the fundamentals, and we just didn’t cover the bunt, basically, and overthrew it.”
The Rams took their first lead in the bottom of the third, sparked by a leadoff double by Anderson. Sarah Chen reached base on a single. Butler drove them both in with a single of her own. Butler went 2 for 3 with three RBIs. She also drove in another two unearned runs in the fourth inning to extend McDonough’s lead to 6-3. Patuxent committed two of its three defensive errors the fourth. Chen went 2 for 4 and scored two runs. Willett went 3 for 3.
Hannah Ludke was Patuxent’s starting pitcher. She gave up 10 hits and four earned runs. Ludke also struck out six batters and didn’t allow any walks.
“Timely hitting, aggressive base-running by McDonough, and us not being ready in certain situations,” Patuxent head coach Jen Bruno said was the difference in the contest. “Obviously, the errors that we did have were huge. My pitcher threw a really good game, and we weren’t behind her.”
The loss was Patuxent’s fourth of the season after snapping a threegame losing streak to begin the season with a win over Thomas Stone on March 30. The Panthers are scheduled to be at home against Calvert at 4:30 p.m. today.
McDonough is set to be at home against Stone at 4:30 p.m. today.