Manchester Scores Early, Often To Beat Valley
May 9, 2017 at 4:03 p.m.
Manchester Scores Early, Often To Beat Valley
By Mark [email protected]
Aided by three Valley errors, the visiting Lady Squires sent 18 batters to the plate, with the first 14 reaching base, in a 13-run first inning. The Lady Vikings committed three more errors in a seven-run second inning for Manchester, which cruised to a 22-0 Three Rivers Conference win Monday.
The victory left Manchester at 6-0 in the conference and 16-2 overall. Valley fell to 7-11 and 3-3.
While not anticipating the lopsided score, Manchester coach Brittany Holmes said the game went according to plan from the get-go.
“Our girls came and hit, and attacked from the beginning,” she said. “They hit the ball and they hit the ball hard. Everybody put it in play.”
Lady Squire leadoff hitter Emma West had a perfect day at the plate. She had a three-run homer on her second trip to the plate in the opening frame, and also singled, walked twice and was hit by a pitch twice. The top five Manchester hitters scored three runs each in the first two innings.
Kiera Stacy drove in the first three runs with a double. Cierra Carter and Mattie McKee each doubled in the second frame.
Manchester senior pitcher Brooklyn Howard only had to concern herself with throwing strikes, and she handled the task well, punching out nine.
“Brooklyn looked great in the circle, and the defense was there when we needed it.”
Based on recent wins, Valley coach Daryl Shoemaker thought the key to the game would be keeping the game close enough to be in a position to win late.
“It went really wrong really fast,” he said. “Before the game, I thought they seemed prepared. I thought they were ready. The talk was they wanted to fight. They knew it’d be a challenge and I think they really wanted to get it. But the wind got out of our sails way too early.
“Our last three wins were all seventh-inning, come-from-behind wins, so we know we can hit, and we know we can come back if we can keep the game close. But mentally it got away quick.”
Valley was still holding a traditional post-game meeting when the Manchester bus pulled out of the parking lot. Shoemaker said he wanted to make sure the loss didn’t define the rest of the Valley season.
“We said we don’t dwell on the score, but we still try to learn from it. There wasn’t a lot of positive on the field today, but the conversation after the game was really good,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can get some emotional growth out of this, the team bonds a little bit after going through something like that, and come out strong the rest of the week. We still have four more games this week.”
That week continues for Valley when Wabash visits for a conference game Wednesday. Manchester travels to Southwood for a conference contest on Wednesday.
MANCHESTER 22
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 0 (5 inn.)
M (13)70 02 – 22 21 0
TV 000 00 – 0 4 7
Manchester – Brooklyn Howard (W, 5IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 9K).
Valley – Kayla Scott (L, 0.1 IP, 4H, 8R, 7ER, 3BB, 0K), Sydney Howard (1.2IP, 11H, 12R, 7ER, 0BB, 1K), Ally Betten (3IP, 6H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 1K)
2B – Kiera Stacy (M), Cierra Carter (M), Ally Betten (TV), Mattie McKee (M), Kirstyn Yoder (TV).
HR – Emma West (M)
Records – Manchester 16-2 (6-0 TRC), Valley 7-11 (3-3 TRC).
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Aided by three Valley errors, the visiting Lady Squires sent 18 batters to the plate, with the first 14 reaching base, in a 13-run first inning. The Lady Vikings committed three more errors in a seven-run second inning for Manchester, which cruised to a 22-0 Three Rivers Conference win Monday.
The victory left Manchester at 6-0 in the conference and 16-2 overall. Valley fell to 7-11 and 3-3.
While not anticipating the lopsided score, Manchester coach Brittany Holmes said the game went according to plan from the get-go.
“Our girls came and hit, and attacked from the beginning,” she said. “They hit the ball and they hit the ball hard. Everybody put it in play.”
Lady Squire leadoff hitter Emma West had a perfect day at the plate. She had a three-run homer on her second trip to the plate in the opening frame, and also singled, walked twice and was hit by a pitch twice. The top five Manchester hitters scored three runs each in the first two innings.
Kiera Stacy drove in the first three runs with a double. Cierra Carter and Mattie McKee each doubled in the second frame.
Manchester senior pitcher Brooklyn Howard only had to concern herself with throwing strikes, and she handled the task well, punching out nine.
“Brooklyn looked great in the circle, and the defense was there when we needed it.”
Based on recent wins, Valley coach Daryl Shoemaker thought the key to the game would be keeping the game close enough to be in a position to win late.
“It went really wrong really fast,” he said. “Before the game, I thought they seemed prepared. I thought they were ready. The talk was they wanted to fight. They knew it’d be a challenge and I think they really wanted to get it. But the wind got out of our sails way too early.
“Our last three wins were all seventh-inning, come-from-behind wins, so we know we can hit, and we know we can come back if we can keep the game close. But mentally it got away quick.”
Valley was still holding a traditional post-game meeting when the Manchester bus pulled out of the parking lot. Shoemaker said he wanted to make sure the loss didn’t define the rest of the Valley season.
“We said we don’t dwell on the score, but we still try to learn from it. There wasn’t a lot of positive on the field today, but the conversation after the game was really good,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can get some emotional growth out of this, the team bonds a little bit after going through something like that, and come out strong the rest of the week. We still have four more games this week.”
That week continues for Valley when Wabash visits for a conference game Wednesday. Manchester travels to Southwood for a conference contest on Wednesday.
MANCHESTER 22
TIPPECANOE VALLEY 0 (5 inn.)
M (13)70 02 – 22 21 0
TV 000 00 – 0 4 7
Manchester – Brooklyn Howard (W, 5IP, 4H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 9K).
Valley – Kayla Scott (L, 0.1 IP, 4H, 8R, 7ER, 3BB, 0K), Sydney Howard (1.2IP, 11H, 12R, 7ER, 0BB, 1K), Ally Betten (3IP, 6H, 2R, 1ER, 3BB, 1K)
2B – Kiera Stacy (M), Cierra Carter (M), Ally Betten (TV), Mattie McKee (M), Kirstyn Yoder (TV).
HR – Emma West (M)
Records – Manchester 16-2 (6-0 TRC), Valley 7-11 (3-3 TRC).
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