High school softball: First Inning miscues lead to Mustang momentum in 14-0 Norman loss
Sep. 7—Things were running smoothly for the Norman Tigers following the first two outs of the game.
After Norman starting pitcher Jenna Welch forced the first two Mustang batters to ground out, the game began to unravel as a single followed by an error and a subsequent pair of stolen bases quickly avalanched into a three-run first inning.
The Tigers failed to respond back and the Broncos were able to tally up 11 more runs on the scoreboard in the remaining four innings of the game as Mustang improved their record to 12-5.
For the entire game, Norman was only able to collect four hits in a scoreless night.
"Stuff started snowballing a little bit and very seldom this year have we've shown our age and we showed our age today," said Norman softball coach Daniel Wood. "We showed some youth in that game."
Mustang scored at least three runs in four of the five innings that were played before the game was called. This included three runs in the first and second inning and four runs in the third and fifth inning. Norman was only able to hold Mustang scoreless in the fourth inning.
Mustang infield duo Eden Anderson and Fae Cornish led the way with three hits each as the latter also collected a game-high three RBI's.
Mustang starting pitcher Kiera McGahee threw a complete game shutout against Norman, striking out eight batters while walking none.
"Probably the best pitcher we've seen," said Wood. "That changeup was filthy. She did a great job of staying down at the knees all night long. It's gonna be exciting to see how we progress the next time we play her in a couple weeks."
Coaches usually have one of two approaches when it comes to lopsided losses like the one Norman suffered Tuesday night: either burn the tape and forget about it or try to make blowout losses a painful learning lesson.
Second-year coach Wood appeared to have taken the latter approach as he spoke extensively to his team following the game.
"Every loss is a learning opportunity. We're either winning or we're learning," said Wood. "So a lot of things we can take from (this loss) that will come out in practice tomorrow, and we'll make sure we rep the things we missed."
Norman falls to a 10-9 record following the loss. The Tigers will look to lick its wounds and bite back in their next game against U.S. Grant on Thursday, Sept. 8.
Clemente Almanza is a sports reporter intern for The Transcript. You can reach him via email at calmanza@normantranscript.com or on Twitter @CAlmanza1007
