By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
DAYTON, Ore.– Well. The first meeting of the season between the Scio and Dayton Softball teams Tuesday lived up to the hype.
The two teams entered the 3A Special District 2 match-up sitting in the Top 10 in the classification and both teams combining to only have lost one game of the season as the game got underway.
Both teams plated a run each in the first inning, the Loggers scoring first off a Megan Trissel single before the Pirates answered with a solo Home Run by Lillie Brooks. And that was the only scoring we had in the game through the next three innings.
Myleigh Cooper and Charly Upmeyer both were wheeling and dealing pitching. Their defense’s backed them up as both squads had their chances in Tuesday’s game to break the 1-1 tie, only to be denied each time. It felt like a classic playoff game where you had to be checked in, or it could get away from you, and it was a challenge as each inning went by.
A preview for their next meeting in Scio in May for sure, and perhaps another game in the 3A Postseason as the squads had against one another last year.
“Every pitch I was like, ‘I have to hit my pitch or they’re going to hit it’. I hit my spots, and I was really proud of that. It was a huge stepping stone for me,” starts Upmeyer. “This game, we brought the energy. We did everything we were supposed to do. Everything was great, our bats could’ve been a little bit better, but we did really well as a team and we had really good energy. Our infield backed me up, so that was a really big thank you to them.
“We need to bring the energy every game. Our energy wanes a little bit at times. But other than that, I say we’re a Championship-caliber team. We just need to bring our energy up every game and work hard.”
The game was still knotted up at one going into the top half of the fifth inning when the game’s third run came across. With one out on the board, Cooper sent a laser out beyond the left field fence to hand Scio a 2-1 lead and had invited pressure back onto Upmeyer and the Pirate defense. But it was no sweat for the Dayton defense as they retired the next two batters to get out of the inning with just the Cooper home run as the lone run of the inning.
The Pirates put the pressure on Scio to hold them off, something that the Loggers did in the bottom halves of the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to close out a 2-1 victory After surrendering a lead-off walk in the fifth, a lead-off single in the sixth and Scio retired the next three batters to close out the threats. The Loggers did the same in the bottom half of the seventh when after they surrendered a one-out single, Scio held the tying run on the basepaths once more to close out probably their most intense game of the season to this point.
“We haven’t played a game like this yet this year, and it’s fun to have. It makes me a better pitcher. It makes us a better team. I’m happy we could come out with a win,” said Copper. “I think knowing that failure is going to come. We’re playing a good team, Dayton is a great team. You’re going to swing and miss. You’re going to have an error, and that’s all a part of the game.
“When we learn to accept that, and it makes it easier to work past those mistakes, and then we’re able to start moving forward into each inning.”This gives us a lot of confidence, and we’re feeling pretty good. If we keep using the same energy that we had today and the same focus that we had today, then I think we’ll be ok.
Cooper and Upmeyer each struck out 12 batters for their respective teams on Tuesday. Scio will host Willamina on Wednesday while Dayton heads to play at Amity on Wednesday.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
