Lady Bulldogs trounce Trotters, dominate Drummond
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DRUMMOND — A shutout loss to the Florence Lady Falcons awoke the slumbering bats of the Mission Lady Bulldogs.
After being limited to only one hit and two base runners in an 4-0 loss to the Lady Falcons in Florence Thursday, with their hitter Katie McDonald back in the lineup the Lady Bulldogs belted out 10 hits – seven of them came in an 11-run fourth inning – in a 12-2 drubbing of the Trotters in St. Ignatius Friday. Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs blasted a dozen hits, including two inside-the-park home runs in a 9-0 shutout victory against the Lady Trojans in Drummond.
With the two one-sided victories the Lady Bulldogs improved to 8-3 and hold onto the fourth and final spot in the Western B-C Conference for the state tournament. The Lady Bulldogs’ three losses have been to the conferences three top teams: Thompson Falls, Loyola and Florence. After each loss the Lady Bulldogs have responded by blowing out their next opponent – they average more than a 10-run margin in the three victories, which is encouraging for Mission coach Susan Weaselhead.
“It’s nice to see that they have that confidence. They don’t get down on themselves. They might for a little bit, but they pop right back up,” Weaselhead said.
After giving up two runs on three hits in the first inning against Plains, Mission ace Kyla Olson was nearly unhittable the rest of the weekend. Olson only allowed one more Plains’ hit the rest of the way and finished with four strikeouts. In her third shutout of the season, Olson held the Lady Trojans to only three hits and fanned 12 to improve to 8-3 on the season and push her scoreless inning streak to 11. Weaselhead said that what has impressed her most about Olson in her first year starting is her consistency. She knows that every time that Olson takes the rubber that she is going to throw strikes.
In Florence, Lady Falcon hurler Courtney Byrne kept the Lady Bulldogs off the basepaths until Jasmine Gilleard reached on a walk in the sixth inning – Gilleard was caught stealing, so Byrne had faced the minimum 18 batters at the start of the seventh. With two outs in the top of the seventh, Dalena Weaselhead, who was filling in for Katie McDonald as catcher, ruined Byrne’s no-hit bid with a single. The next batter Janeal McDonald lined out to the shortstop to end the game.
“Nothing was working,” Weaselhead said, adding that they kept swinging at Byrne’s rise ball, no matter the location. “We just had a mental breakdown...It’s tough when you don’t have your leader.”
Katie McDonald was back in the line up Friday against Plains.
“She (Katie) brings confidence to the whole team. They follow her lead,” Weaselhead said. “I could feel the difference.”
Against the Trotters, the Lady Bulldogs erased a one-run deficit with an 11-run fourth-inning. Mission had seven hits in the inning and also capitalized on four Trotter errors. Eleven Lady Bulldogs came to the plate before Plains recorded their first out.
Olson, who led off the inning with a single, had two singles in the inning and scored on an RBI double by Katie McDonald and a triple by Gilleard, who also scored two runs in the inning. Katie McDonald had three RBIs in the inning.
