MARYVILLE, Mo. — The young Spoofhound softball team has had its share of growing pains this season, but each game shows the progress that the team is making under second-year head coach Brylee Wright.
In Thursday’s 15-1 loss to Benton, that bright spot was provided by starting pitcher Avah Eckley. The sophomore stepped to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the first inning and Benton pitcher Shania Noland attempted to pitch away from her.
Eckley went with the pitch though and lined the ball over the right field fence.
“It was my first pitch and it was a little outside, so I didn’t know if I was going to hit it or not, but I was just trying to get contact and it went over,” Eckley said.
The Benton dugout had been calling for its outfielders to back up for Eckley and play ‘no doubles’ defense, which prompted the line of the night from Benton senior catcher Sladyr Duncan. Duncan turned to her coaches after Eckley crossed the plate and simply said, ‘you didn’t say no homers.’
“On the stat book, she probably has the most hard-hit balls on our team,” Wright said. “It is just that they are right to people, so I was glad to see this one actually go over the fence.”
Noland settled in after that though and the big fly was the only hit she would allow in four innings and Keelea Petro finished it with three strikeouts in the fifth. Noland finished with 10 strikeouts and a walk.
Eckley made her second start of the season in the pitcher’s circle as she and senior Phoebe Hornickel continue to split pitching responsibilities. Eckley pitched four innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs.
“She’s a very powerful pitcher,” Wright said. “Whenever she gets in a groove of things, she is not afraid to try to pitch it right by them. She is our more velocity pitcher where as Phoebe is more of a spin pitcher.”
The start to the game was good for the Hound defense with back-to-back groundouts to sophomore shortstop Jesslyn Grayson. Grayson was excited for Thursday’s game and the chance to play several of her friends from club softball.
“It kinda feels like playing wiffle ball in your backyard because they are all old teammates,” Grayson said. “Seeing them from machine-pitch, coach-pitch to high-school ball, it is just fun”
An error allowed two runs to score with two outs, but Eckley cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first. It remained 2-1 until the third inning when Cardinal junior Victorria Barron connected on her own home run — a 2-run shot. Benton added two more runs that inning for a 6-1 lead then tacked on three more in the fourth.
Barron belted her second 2-run homer in the fifth inning as the Cardinals reached the 10-run rule.
Eckley finished the game reaching in both her plate appearances with the homer and a walk. Kate Ackley also reached base when she was hit by a pitch.
Klarabelle Turner and Barron both had three hits to lead the Cardinals.
Maryville will be back in action on Saturday at the Stanberry Tournament. The Spoofhounds are home next Tuesday against Chillicothe before a road trip to St. Pius X on Thursday.
“Honestly just looking at the team from summer workouts to now, it is just so much improvement,” Grayson said. “I’m so proud of all these girls. No matter what the scores say, I’m just proud of watching friendships grow, relationships grow and people as a whole growing. I love seeing the smiles in the dugout and the jokes getting cracked.”