Lady Mavs take muddy win against Fulton
Abbie Buswell kicks up dirt as she rounds third base in the game against Fulton. The Lady Mavs won 6-2. (photo:Collin Riggs )
Sophomore Makayla Simmons started at the mound, pitching five innings and managing four strikeouts as well as 14 first-pitch strikes.
She finished with a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 1.00 before Reece Simpson relieved her for the last two innings.
Simpson notched two strikeouts and finished with a WHIP of 0.00.
On offense, Abby Buswell and Audrey Lankford led on hits with two apiece. Lankford also batted two runners in and finished with four quality at-bats.
The big offensive play of the night came from starting pitcher Makayla Simmons, who hit her first home run.
Head Coach Allen Russell said he was very pleased with the team.
“It went very well, especially for all the rain and wetness we’ve had two games in a row now,” . For not playing last year and no pre-season or scrimmages, I’m very happy.
“Makayla Simmons came in and pitched her first game and did very, very well. She got a little tired about the fifth inning, so we brought Reese [Simpson] back in. Offensively we’re still trying to get going, but that’s expected. We have some girls hitting good, but others have got to step up if we’re going to beat the teams we want to beat. This time of year, though, hitting is behind pitching.”
While Russell said that the team’s offense has a ways to come, there are still standouts on the team.
“Allie Richards and Jade Richards had big hits the first game. Audrey Lankford is our lead-off batter and has had multiple hits in both of the two games we’ve played. She’s the most confident at the plate it seems like. Some girls might not actually get hits in the box score, but they’ve scored runs at third and got bunts and things like that, so we’re playing good team ball offensively. I was a lot more lenient about letting them swing tonight to get them some confidence at the plate. Overall, we’re playing pretty good.”
Russell specifically mentioned how proud the team was of Makayla Simmons’ performance both at the plate and at bat, and how happy they all are for the young player’s recovery after an injury last Spring.
“Makayla Simmons hit her first home run tonight and absolutely murdered it. It went over the fence, over the batting cage, and over the second fence. We couldn’t even find it. She was tickled to death and I’m really glad for her. She had an injury last April and couldn’t do anything with us until after Christmas and now here she is, the second game of the season pitching a great game through five innings and hitting an absolute bomb. We’re really proud of her. We’re all really happy for her.”