By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SCIO, Ore.– For the first time in nine games, dating back to their last win over the Scio Softball team on April 22, 2022, the Dayton softball team has gotten a victory over the Loggers.
And it was a similar type of game as the one the two squads had back on April 15 where runs came at a premium thanks to the strength of the two squads pitchers and defense’s that those offenses were going up against. The Pirates jumped out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a fielding error on a Gabby Chupp hit. Chupp, a freshman, got the start against the Loggers and rose to the occasion as she held Scio to one hit through three innings before Scio began timing her out in the fourth inning and got base-runners on base.
“Me and Charly (Upmeyer) we go into all of our games knowing we trust our defense. Us as pitchers, we just got to go get the hitters, and we have each other’s backs. That’s something big going into the game is trusting our defense, trusting our pitching staff and everything like that,” said Chupp.
Upmeyer came in for relief for Chupp in the sixth inning after the Loggers had knotted up the score at one. Chupp and Dayton got out of the jam in the bottom half of the fourth inning, but Scio managed to push that tying run across in the bottom half of the fifth inning off a Cam Dalke single going into the pitching change.
Upmeyer reset the Pirate defense and turned a quick three-up, three-down inning in the sixth inning that kept the Scio batters on their toes going into the final inning of the game.
Both teams had the same identical amount of hits, five each, but like in their first game where Scio clutched up when they needed that one clutch hit, it was Dayton’s turn on Monday to find that one or two key hits that separate them from the other.
In the top half of the seventh inning, the Pirates put the ball in play and got two runs home. One by a Rylie Hedgecock single and another off an error to take a 3-1 lead into the bottom half of the seventh inning.
“We were so excited. This was the game that we wanted for so long, and we finally got it,” said Hedgecock.
But Scio made Dayton work for what would be a 3-1 victory. The Loggers saw Emma Thatcher single to lead off before getting the first out. The Pirates intentionally walked Myleigh Cooper, her third intentional walk of the game, before Dayton got the second out by way of strikeout. Dalke loaded up the bases thanks to a single, but the Loggers weren’t able to find that one key hit like the Pirates did to force extra innings or win it in walk-off fashion as the Pirates got the final out by strikeout.
“I think this will be good for us in the long run for sure. We knew that they were a really good team… They’re a really good team, and we got a lot of respect for them. They work hard, and we just didn’t have it today. We just couldn’t get the key hit when we needed one, and they did,” said Scio Head Coach Jim Mask. “We just got to find a way to make this a positive. It’ll make us better, and we’ll be more prepared. We got some tougher games coming up. We’ll respond, we’ll work hard, and we’ll be ready to go.”
The Loggers will be on the road for the next three games with Amity on Tuesday, Scappoose on Saturday and at Willamina next Monday. Dalke led the Loggers with two hits in the defeat.
Dayton, who saw Upmeyer and Chupp combine for 11 strikeouts in the victory, will host Santiam Christian on Tuesday before hosting Amity on Monday.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
