The Warriors fell 4-5 in a 7 inning battle vs Bellevue East on Wednesday Sept. 3. Every time the girls play Bellevue East they have a long and hard game. Last year the girls fell 4-5 on the final play – the same as this year.
Coach Mike Leapley was upset with the result of the game, as he had been preparing the girls for this game.
“I was just flabbergasted, ” Leapley said “It was very frustrating. We just worked and talked about everything the day before in practice.”
Senior Hadley Hansen went 1 for 3 with a double, and caught the full 7 innings. Hansen talks about how she was feeling after the game.
“The loss was definitely a low of the season thus far. With that being said, it was a big learning opportunity for the team,” Hansen said. “I think we learned that no lead is enough and that it takes all of us putting in effort to win every game.”
The girls were up the whole game until the bottom of the 6th inning when the Chieftains hit a 3 run home run. Coach Leapley talks about the changes he and his pitchers will make to not let things like that happen again.
“We need to improve our ability to locate pitches. We have to know the situation. After the home run you could feel the air come out of everyone from the stands and dugout. Things like this are going to happen. We have to do a better job of bouncing back from it. Hannah has done a better job of brushing it out and moving forward,” Leapley said.
Hansen has a strong bond with her pitchers and talks about what she does after big hits are given up and if the pitcher is struggling.
“I try to keep things light after a big hit. Sometimes we talk about small mechanical pitching things that can be fixed. Other times I’ll just give the pitcher a pep talk or chat about something other than softball to create a less stressful environment for them. It all depends on the game and more importantly the pitcher,” Hansen said.
The girls have some big games coming up in the next couple of weeks. Coach Leapley talks about how he will get the girls back in their groove.
“To be %100 honest. I’m not even worried. We will be just fine. Everyone goes through losing games. Losing stinks, nobody likes to lose. [But] we are an outstanding team with great senior leaders,” Leapley said.
