Lady Wolverines cruise to victory in season opener

MABEN – Lee Berryhill was dealing with more than just youth on Monday when he began the slow pitch softball season against Houlka.

The longtime East Webster coach is going through some changes like everyone else in the state this year as a new softball has been implemented that will cut down on the power for offenses.

“We teach hitting because we don't have the power so nothing changed for us,” Berryhill said. “The problem is, we don't have much speed, either. Now everybody is closer (in the outfield) so they can throw you out on the bases. You've got to learn to find a line.”

If one game is any indication, the Lady Wolverines are adjusting fine to the new ball. The home team pounded out 11 hits in a six-inning affair and cruised past Houlka 10-0 to begin the new year with a win.

The lone senior for East Webster, Coy Jennings, had a 2-for-3 day with an RBI and two doubles, including the two-bagger in the sixth that capped the run-rule. Hallie Beth Reed and Reagan Plunkett each had two hits at the bottom of the lineup and drove in a run.

It took a couple of innings for things to get going for the Lady Wolverines but the bottom of the order got it started when they came up in the third. Reed and Plunkett each got singles to start off the third frame and it started a tidal wave offensively as East Webster sent 13 batters to the plate and racked up an 8-0 advantage.

The Lady Wolverines added another run in the fifth on an RBI single from Peyton Flora, but the second run was gunned down at the plate by the left fielder to keep the game alive for Houlka. It didn't take long for that run to be avenged, however, as Jennings doubled home Katelee Box in the sixth to end things.

Berryhill was proud of how East Webster played for the first real game of the season and he said there was both good and bad that came from the opening weekend jamboree at Neshoba Central where his team knocked off national powerhouse Neshoba Central in one game but lost to Philadelphia in the second.

The difference was how the Lady Wolverines played defense as errors cost them against the Tornadoes. On Monday, his team made just one error but the rest of the game was routine for the young girls.

“We played clean defense,” Berryhill said. “(I) couldn't ask for anything better out of them. Everybody was in the right place defensively. We didn't square balls. You've got to hit line drives and hard ground balls in this game.”

East Webster continues the early part of the schedule by traveling to Calhoun City tonight.