By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– West Salem and West Albany both put the ball into play on Monday in their non-league match-up at West Salem High School.
The difference that tipped the scales in the Titans’ 7–3 win was their ability to string hits together at the right time, keeping them ahead of the Bulldogs.
It’s those little things. The being heads up on the basepaths, yet being aggressive. Being heads-up on defense. Those things, done right, come together you start gathering momentum as West Salem did. They jumped out to a 6-1 lead going into sixth inning cause of it.
“You got to get that compound effect when you’re on the field and you got to gain that momentum. If you let yourself up at any point, you’re going to start sliding backwards. Just making sure they’re staying heads up on the bases, like being extremely aggressive on the bases, that’s going to win ball games,” said West Salem Head Coach Jamie Yeaney.
“Kali (Parks) had some huge catches in the outfield, Lucy (Duval) had some great strikeouts and balls that she pitched that got into grounder’s so we can get an out. Just building on that and making sure that we’re all playing together and staying on the same page the whole game.”
That defense prevented the Bulldogs from answering, though West Albany pushed across two runs in the final two innings on an Addisyn Strunk single in the sixth and a bases-loaded walk in the seventh.
As both teams head into the second round of league play, this game served as a strong tune-up for what lies ahead between two of the top teams in 6A and 5A. West Salem faces McNary on Wednesday, while West Albany wraps up its first round against Corvallis and South Albany before meeting the Titans next week.
“It gives us tougher competition that’ll help us to go compete in the second half of league. We can learn from this game to not let errors affect us and fluster us,” said the Bulldogs Gabriella Young. “Just putting the work in at practice and just making the little things count,”
Young struck out seven batters pitching and Macie Manning and Mikayla Chaffins each led West Albany with two hits each. Duval struck out ten batters pitching and Aubrey Peil hit a lead-off Home Run in the first that sparked a three-run first inning for the Titans. Courtney Gills drove in two runs with two hits for West Salem.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
