Ponytails boasting Friday win
Published 3:00 am Saturday, June 20, 2015
A 10-run-rule win for their first match up in the Sub-District tournament is surely not what the Troy Ponytails expected to come home with Friday night against Opp, but that’s what they got.
The Ponytails beat Opp 14-4 in four innings after having the game called for a 10-run rule, and Ponytails head coach Matt Leverette said he was amazed at how well his girls had come together to play Friday.
Although the win was a combination of the offense and defense playing well together, Levrette said it certainly had not hurt that his two lead off batters had collectively gone five for five at the plate Friday night.
“We had a 10-run after just four innings, but actually the top of our line up did really well,” Levrette said. “Morgan Bundy and Kendall Navarre, they went a combined five for five at the plate tonight. They set the tone for the ball game at the very start.
We played solid defensively, and we had a couple of errors, which is to be expected. I think it was first game jitters, fist game nerves. We settled down and played really well.”
Levrette also praised his starting pitcher, Saide Levrette, for only allowing two Opp hits during the game and earning five strikeouts.
“Sadie pitched all four innings,” Levrette said. “She only gave up two hits and had five strikeouts. It was a good game all the way around, really.”
Mary Heffner went one for one at the plate, Emily Williamson was two for three, Ashlyn Shaver was one for two at the plate and Dannah Dawson was one for one, Levrette said.
Abbi Campbell was also to be praised of her showing during the Ponytails outing, Levrette said. Heffner, who according to Levrette is an offensive leader for the team, reached base each time she came to plate but twice was from being hit by a pitch.
“Abby is our third hitter,” Levrette said. “She got on base all three times having been hit twice. She’s usually a very good hitter for us, but she didn’t get the opportunity tonight really to do a lot of the plate. But she reached base and it helped us out just as much.”
Levrette said he had high hopes for his girls during the remained of the tournament and the girls were already eager to take the field against Andalusia today at 10 a.m. in Luverne.
“I know Andalusia is a strong team, so we are hoping to keep the bats going for our game against them,” Levrette said. “We just want to keep the momentum that we’ve got going now through the rest of the tournament.”