By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
DALLAS, Ore.–Working under pressure and through the pressure has been the message conveyed to the program early in the season for the squad going through those growing pains of developing and adjusting to new roles. And Monday was just another opportunity for the Dragons to battle against Oregon City, something that they succeeded as they came out of the preseason game with a 4-2 victory.
“It was a really good game because we’ve been working on working under pressure and getting ahead early, which we did. Madi (Ruman) really executed, getting the batters that she needed to get out,” said Ruby Halligan. “Having confidence and trusting each other and trusting our abilities. We all know how to play softball, we’ve been playing for years, so just trusting in ourselves”
Dallas got out in front and built a 4-0 lead going into the fourth inning. Halligan sparked a three-run third inning with a lead-off triple that was followed with a Ruman RBI Triple, a Ava Woods Sacrifice Fly that brought Ruman home and a Grace Walls solo home run to cap the explosive inning for the Dragons.
And it would turn out, those four runs would be crucial for the second half of the game for when Oregon City made their move. The Pios took advantage of a few opportunities in the top half of the fifth inning that cut the four-run Dallas lead down to two by the end of the half-inning. Mix in Oregon City’s defense holding Dallas scoreless in the bottom half of the inning and you got a sense that momentum was beginning to swing in favor of the Pioneers.
But Dallas weren’t going to fade and give up their lead. They’ve been in some dogfights as well as Oregon City has. Halligan turned a double-play in the top half of the sixth inning and Ruman struck out another to close out the top half of the sixth with four batters faced. The Pioneers turned a three-up and down inning defensively before the Dragons clutched up once more.
After surrendering a lead-off walk and having the tying run at the plate, the Dragons turned three straight groundballs in for outs to close out the 4-2 victory, their third-straight victory and fifth overall.
“It does prepare us for league because it puts us in pressure situations so that we can hopefully get better every game. We have a lot of kids playing positions this year that they had shoes to fill, and they’re doing a good job. It’s all about getting more comfortable and being more confident in themselves and in each other,” said Dallas Head Coach Brandi Jackson “They’re growing, they’ve shown tremendous growth in the last few weeks and I’m just looking forward towards that growing and continuing to be more consistent.”
Ruman pitched a three-hitter Monday for Dallas, striking out five. Harlow Nelson led the Dragons with two hits, and Woods led Dallas with two runs driven in. The Dragons open Mid-Willamette Conference play Friday at Central.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
