By Scott Vanscoy (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Reeds Spring Wolves defeated the Monett Cubs, 4-0, behind a strong pitching performance by senior Izzy Erickson. Erickson gave up one hit, walked two, and struck out 18 Cubs hitters in pitching the shutout.
“It was a good game,” said Erickson. “I mean, we all had a good mindset, maybe better than we normally have. We all knew it was a game that we needed to win. I just came in thinking I need to have my pitches working and tonight they all were working.”
Reeds Spring coach Scott Walker was impressed with his senior’s performance.
“She settled in, and once we score it takes a little bit of pressure off and they have to play her game,” said Walker.
Erickson ran into trouble in the first inning when the Monett leadoff hitter stroked a single to the outfield. Erickson then walked the next hitter. She settled down and struck out the next three hitters, leaving two runners on base. The Cubs would not get another hit the rest of the night. Erickson got all of the run support she needed in the bottom half of the first inning when junior Tori Scobee hit a two out, two strike double with two men on, scoring two runs for the Wolves, putting them up 2-0.
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“That was really big for me because I was so nervous,” said Scobee. “I think it was an inside pitch and I was a little surprised I hit it. It gave us a lot of confidence to get us up that quick in the game.”
Erickson was throwing the ball well as she would strike out the side four times in the last six innings. She helped her own cause, driving in runs in the fourth and sixth innings. The Cubs did not help their cause by committing five errors in the game.
“We didn’t show up, offensively; defensively we had some errors that killed us,” said Monett coach Jami Bauer. “Izzy pitched well and we didn’t make the adjustments at the plate. When you have two good teams playing against each other, errors are what’s going to get you. That should have been a really close game and, not that it was a horrible game but it still wasn’t our best game.”
Walker was proud of the way his girls competed.
“We as coaches challenged them,” said Walker. “It’s our third game this week and we had three Saturday, and three last week. Everybody is in that mode right now, so everybody is worn down. We played Monday and Tuesday nights and Tuesday we were really flat, we didn’t seem to have a lot of energy, so we challenged them tonight, and they responded, better than what I hoped. We did a good job hitting, we scored a few runs early, and our pitching was phenomenal.”
Monett 0, Reeds Spring 4
Monett 000 000 0 — 0
Reeds Spring 200 101 X — 4
