Softball and baseball scrimmages
March 30, 2022 at 8:54 p.m.
Softball and baseball scrimmages
By Vivian Risch-
The softball scrimmage on March 21, at 5 p.m. in Liberty became a doubleheader when the weatherman forecast rain at the end of the week. With that idea in mind, both scrimmages would beat the rain.
Union County and Shenandoah played four innings with 10 batters per inning on the Johnny Welborn softball field.
A few steps away, Franklin County and the Patriots scrimmaged at Bill Webb Field with a similar format.
“We went a modified four innings with batters starting with a 1-1 count, so we could finish before it got dark,” UC head baseball coach Jordan Ashbrook said.
Neither head coaches (Scott Gray and Ashbrook) minded the change. In fact, Ashbrook was pleased that the baseball Patriots have a few more days to prepare for opening day.
“This is day seven of official practice for some of our guys – only the seventh day they have played baseball this year,” Ashbrook said following the scrimmage. “It wasn't bad. We're knocking a lot of rust off. The good news is having scrimmage this early means we can identify things we need to improve on before our first actual game.”
The Patriots open on the road at Randolph Southern Saturday, April 2.
Baseball...Grady Swafford, Nate Reffitt, Seth Richardson, John Ridenour
Blake Richards, Eric Burdine, Devyn Shepherd, Josh Klein, Matthew Wooley, Mason Stewart, Kyle Sams, Brady Woeste
Gavin Davis, Benton Richardson, Parker Moles, Gunner Dishmond, Logan Boone, Caeleb Brewer, Coleton Wicker, Nate Taylor, Dalton Creech, Isaiah Lowe, Andrew Hounchell, Dalton Adams, Noah Snodderly, Devan Hill.
The Lady Patriots’ opening date was Wednesday of this week – too late in the week to make this week's Herald.
“Pitching looked pretty good overall. Gave up 2 runs. Outscored them 3-2,” Coach Gray said.
Chloe Greene and Bailey Mathews shared duties on the mound. Greene struck out 8-of-10 batters in the first inning.
“Disappointed defensively. We usually hit the ball well and didn't see that here tonight.”
UC third baseman Sophia Knock hit to the center field fence in the first inning and ran down a runner caught between second and third bases for a putout in the third inning.
“We haven't seen live pitching but the more we see live pitching, the better we will be,” Gray said.
Both Gray and Ashbrook agreed that their teams need a lot of work to get where they want to be.
“We need a ton of work to be done,” Gray said. “Sadly enough, I feel like we are really far behind of where we should be.”
Graduation always affects athletic rosters the following year and UC's baseball team was hit hard.
“We're replacing six that were starters 75% of the time last year,” Ashbrook said. “We have a lot of young guys who haven't seen much of baseball. But as we continue to play games, we will continue to grow and get better.”
A pair of Lady Patriots graduated last year, leaving a good number of returnees.
“Scrimmage is a good thing and a bad thing. Part of the issue of being good is sometimes you don't work as hard. We got to remember you just got to work to get to where you want to go,” Gray said. “We want to win a state championship. That's what they are playing for and to do that you've got to work extremely hard to get there. If we build and win as we build, we'll be back.”
The Lady Patriots play at Cowan High School this Saturday, April 2, at 11 a.m.
Softball...AnnaLea Adams, Payten Logue, Kyleigh Payne, Bailey Mathews, Whitney King, Emma Wooley, Kiera Curry, Mackinzey Carter, Hannah Smith, Ally Gray, Reily Frazer, Hallie Hughes, Harly Pilgrim, Brooke Fields, Shelby Hill, Chloe Greene, Kylie Fields, Faith Richardson, Sophia Knock, Brianna Durham.
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The softball scrimmage on March 21, at 5 p.m. in Liberty became a doubleheader when the weatherman forecast rain at the end of the week. With that idea in mind, both scrimmages would beat the rain.
Union County and Shenandoah played four innings with 10 batters per inning on the Johnny Welborn softball field.
A few steps away, Franklin County and the Patriots scrimmaged at Bill Webb Field with a similar format.
“We went a modified four innings with batters starting with a 1-1 count, so we could finish before it got dark,” UC head baseball coach Jordan Ashbrook said.
Neither head coaches (Scott Gray and Ashbrook) minded the change. In fact, Ashbrook was pleased that the baseball Patriots have a few more days to prepare for opening day.
“This is day seven of official practice for some of our guys – only the seventh day they have played baseball this year,” Ashbrook said following the scrimmage. “It wasn't bad. We're knocking a lot of rust off. The good news is having scrimmage this early means we can identify things we need to improve on before our first actual game.”
The Patriots open on the road at Randolph Southern Saturday, April 2.
Baseball...Grady Swafford, Nate Reffitt, Seth Richardson, John Ridenour
Blake Richards, Eric Burdine, Devyn Shepherd, Josh Klein, Matthew Wooley, Mason Stewart, Kyle Sams, Brady Woeste
Gavin Davis, Benton Richardson, Parker Moles, Gunner Dishmond, Logan Boone, Caeleb Brewer, Coleton Wicker, Nate Taylor, Dalton Creech, Isaiah Lowe, Andrew Hounchell, Dalton Adams, Noah Snodderly, Devan Hill.
The Lady Patriots’ opening date was Wednesday of this week – too late in the week to make this week's Herald.
“Pitching looked pretty good overall. Gave up 2 runs. Outscored them 3-2,” Coach Gray said.
Chloe Greene and Bailey Mathews shared duties on the mound. Greene struck out 8-of-10 batters in the first inning.
“Disappointed defensively. We usually hit the ball well and didn't see that here tonight.”
UC third baseman Sophia Knock hit to the center field fence in the first inning and ran down a runner caught between second and third bases for a putout in the third inning.
“We haven't seen live pitching but the more we see live pitching, the better we will be,” Gray said.
Both Gray and Ashbrook agreed that their teams need a lot of work to get where they want to be.
“We need a ton of work to be done,” Gray said. “Sadly enough, I feel like we are really far behind of where we should be.”
Graduation always affects athletic rosters the following year and UC's baseball team was hit hard.
“We're replacing six that were starters 75% of the time last year,” Ashbrook said. “We have a lot of young guys who haven't seen much of baseball. But as we continue to play games, we will continue to grow and get better.”
A pair of Lady Patriots graduated last year, leaving a good number of returnees.
“Scrimmage is a good thing and a bad thing. Part of the issue of being good is sometimes you don't work as hard. We got to remember you just got to work to get to where you want to go,” Gray said. “We want to win a state championship. That's what they are playing for and to do that you've got to work extremely hard to get there. If we build and win as we build, we'll be back.”
The Lady Patriots play at Cowan High School this Saturday, April 2, at 11 a.m.
Softball...AnnaLea Adams, Payten Logue, Kyleigh Payne, Bailey Mathews, Whitney King, Emma Wooley, Kiera Curry, Mackinzey Carter, Hannah Smith, Ally Gray, Reily Frazer, Hallie Hughes, Harly Pilgrim, Brooke Fields, Shelby Hill, Chloe Greene, Kylie Fields, Faith Richardson, Sophia Knock, Brianna Durham.
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