By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
ALBANY, Ore.– The Dallas softball team knew Wednesday’s Mid-Willamette Conference matchup with West Albany would be a battle. Both teams entered the game ranked in the Top 5 in 5A — Dallas at No. 2 and West Albany at No. 3 — and the Dragons knew that they would need to apply steady pressure throughout the game to come away with the win.
The offense and defense worked in unicen through the first two innings with Dallas jumping out to a 3-0 lead going into the bottom half of the third inning before the Bulldogs could respond.
“That’s what we keep thinking is keep getting base hit after base hit. We’ve been doing very strongly with that recently and it’s been really good for us,” Kadence Tullock said of the start of the game. “”It felt good for us getting it together (defensively) and everything we’ve been doing in practice coming together. We’ve been doing really well working as a team and I’m really proud of all of us.”
Gabriella Young drove in West Albany’s first run of the game in the bottom half of the third inning, cutting the deficit to 3-1 going into the fourth inning. But Dallas responded with two runs over the course of the fourth and fifth innings to build up a 5-1 lead going into the sixth. They were stringing together the walks with hits and the occasional bunt to build up the lead, a lead that they would need to use over the course of the final two innings of the game.
After shutting out Dallas in the top of the sixth, West Albany answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning and loaded the bases before the frame ended, putting the Dragons on their heels as the Bulldogs seized momentum late in the game.
It was a challenge the Dragons rose to, limiting the Bulldogs to just those two runs before answering with a run of their own in the top of the seventh to take a 6-3 lead into the final inning. Despite their defensive struggles in the sixth, Dallas met West Albany’s late offensive surge head-on and held off the Bulldogs for a 6-4 road victory.
“We had a couple of mistakes, but I’m super proud of us responding to those mistakes after the fact,” Dallas Head Coach Brandi Jackson said. “We came up with some big plays today and that helped our pitcher limit her pitches, which is important to get through seven innings. Knowing in the circle, knowing that she has her defense behind her, she can play a little more loose and throw those pitches and knowing that her defense has her back.”
Tullock and Ashaley Trine both led the Dragons with two hits each. Trine had a team-high 2RBI’S.
Campbell Akersled the Bulldogs with three hits and Young struck out seven batters pitching for West Albany.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
