Emporia Energy softball traveled to Hays last weekend for a tournament that began unfavorably but resulted in a second-place finish.
“Saturday, we came out a little sluggish, but I was not concerned,” said Energy coach Tommy McClure. “While other teams were celebrating pool play, I felt we were in good shape because the girls were working on big-picture items they needed for the future.”
The Emporia squad regrouped and came out swinging Sunday, collecting three wins to one loss.
“We went 0-4 in pool play Saturday…So Sunday, when it counted, the girls put the pieces together and played some great ball,” McClure said. “We got leadership from our older players, and the youth contributed good numbers. Proud of how this team handled the environment.”
McClure said the team received key defensive stops from Maya Wilson and Oaklie Dawson, along with strong pitching from Laney Davis, Morgan Young, and Adriana Weeden. Young leads the Energy from the circle with 17 strike outs, five earned runs and a 2.386 ERA in 14 innings of work.
Offensively, Atlyn Heffron and Yzabel Ultreras put up big numbers during the weekend, going 8-17 and 8-18, respectively. Overall, Ultreras is batting .462 with nine RBIs and 12 hits, and Heffron is hitting .471 with eight hits.
The Energy is 8-5 for the summer.