By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
DALLAS, Ore.– The Dallas-West Salem softball game lived up to the hype and thensome on Monday afternoon at Dallas High School.
The two squads entered the game, ranked in the Top 10 in 5A and 6A respectively and they showed each other why they belonged up in the upper escalon of their classifications.
It was a defensive battle. Lucy Duval and her Titans defense held the Dragons to three hits in the game. They forced Dallas to play small ball, which worked in their favor as they used two bunts in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a brief 2-1 lead. The Dragons drew even with West Salem at one an inning earlier thanks to a bases loaded walk.
“We struggled early in the game getting the ball in play. So when we had the opportunity to get runners in scoring position. One of the things we’ve been working really hard on is bunting. Bunting is a small part of the game, but it can be a big part and be a big difference between a win and a loss. Executing those were huge,” said Dallas Head Coach Brandi Jackson.
Riley Rozar had that bunt that put Dallas ahead going into the fifth inning.
Madi Jones and the Dallas defense held strong through the fifth. They only allowed that first inning run to score off an Olivia Nunez single that brought Kali Parks home. But eventually the West Salem offense that was producing the hits, were able to string enough together to tie things up in the sixth to tie things up at two.
West Salem had nine hits up to this point, but were only able to produce two runs
“Last week we did a lot of strategies and situations and tried to put them in pressure situations,” starts Jackson. “So when they do get into the game, they don’t think about that pressure and instead, trust themselves with their skill and ability and execute.”
The West Salem defense clutched up again in the bottom of the sixth inning to keep the tie in check. And then in the seventh, duplicated Dallas’ shutout inning with one of their own to force extra innings with the game tied at two. Communication was key throughout the game for the Titans, especially down the stretch to keep Dallas at bay going into the eighth inning.
“The girls were just communicating the whole time. They were celebrating with each other. Every single pitch, when (Lucy Duval) get a strike, the whole field would erupt. So it’s really cool to see how gelled they are in that way and how supportive they are,” said West Salem Head Coach Jamie Yeaney.
Both team’s traded a run in the eighth, forcing a ninth inning tied at three-all. But that was when West Salem’s bats really found their groove.
The Titans opened the top half of the ninth with three-straight single’s. Duval’s single, the second in that run, scored Ella Mahi. Three batters later, West Salem added to their lead off a Pacey Smith single that put the Titans ahead 5-3 going into the bottom half of the ninth inning. Four of the West Salem 15 hits in the game came in that top half of the ninth.
“They did what they do best, they got hits,” said Yeaney. “They stayed back in the back, they stayed focused on it and our runners did a great job. It’s that preparation of thinking about those different game scenarios and practicing those in practice, so when you get into the game, it’s second nature and you don’t need to think about it.”
The Titans turned the three-up and down inning to close out the 5-3 road victory on this day.
Duval struck out 12 batters in the victory and Parks led the West Salem offense with three hits as five Titans had multi-hit games on Monday. The Titans head to play Southridge on Wednesday.
Jones struck out nine batters in the defeat for Dallas. Maeve Woolsey, Kadence Tullock joined Rozar in driving in a run each. The Dragons are at Corvallis on Wednesday.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
