Courtesy | Lang White Photography
Sophomore pitcher Grace Harris threw a complete game to lead the Hillsdale softball team to a 4-1 victory against the defending national champion University of Texas-Tyler to open their season Feb. 6, but fell to a 2-3 record by the end of the UT-Tyler Invite in Texas.
In the UT-Tyler Invite, the Chargers competed against the University of Texas-Tyler, Northeastern State University, and New Mexico Highlands University Feb. 6-8.
“Our first win in the season against Texas Tyler was thanks to Grace Harris,” head coach Kyle Gross said. “Our strategy was to throw Gracie who throws a command spin at pitcher to throw the opposing team off. Our offense kept putting pressure on Tyler until we scored in the seventh inning.”
The following day Hillsdale played two games, the first game was against Northeastern State and ended in a loss for the Chargers. The second game was a rematch against UT-Tyler where the Chargers lost 13-7.
“Texas Tyler made adjustments the second time through as a championship team does,” Gross said. “But we still scored seven runs against them.”
On the third day of competitions, the Chargers led Northeastern State 7-3, going into the bottom of the fifth inning, but fell 9-7 after allowing three runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.
Thanks to an RBI single by senior Emma Sather, and an RBI groundout by junior Medleigh Danchak, the Chargers secured a 5-3 eight-inning win against New Mexico Highlands to close out the series.
Despite losing both games to Northeastern State, Gross said the team’s defense shone during both matches.
“Northeastern State came in undefeated this season with a new coach,” Gross said. “They stole 23 bases the opening weekend, but they had none against us. We threw them out twice and they did not steal the bases. It was huge containing them in our games.”
Although many seniors graduated, Gross said he was proud of the freshmen for stepping up and continuing to maintain the excellence of the team.
“Filling shoes is really tough,” Gross said. “The freshman did great for their first weekend out. All of them had a chance to get their feet dirty. Cayla made no errors on defense. Maggie Hayward got the first RBI, and Katie Jonas pitched a few good innings. They all have been looking to contribute in any way they can.”
Danchak said she was positive about the first game against UT-Tyler.
“During the first game with UT-Tyler, I hit a double during the seventh inning which was very exciting because I was able to keep the rally going after Anna Chellman’s single,” Danchak said. “Gracie Harris was the MVP of the first game with UT-Tyler because she pitched a one hitter against the No. 1 ranked team.”
Danchak said the spirit of the Hillsdale softball team motivated each competitor to do their best and achieve success.
“Our team did a great job of having high energy this weekend which helped our offense to produce,” Danchak said. “We kept our bats hot and a lot of girls stepped up in big moments. We need to work on executing our short game, such as with bunting, base running, etc. But I appreciated that we started aggressive with these aspects.”
Harris said she enjoyed showing her skills against the No. 1 team in the nation, throwing a seventh inning complete game against UT-Tyler, as well as a one-hitter.
Harris said she noticed many of the team’s obstacles and is ready to work with the team to fix them before the next tournament.
“If we lost a game, it was usually due to being outhit or missing cues by the pitchers, not to mention the competition was very good,” Harris said. “Baserunning is something we now know we should work on more. As a pitcher I saw what pitches were really good and what I need to improve.”
Harris sees herself surrounded by teammates with talent, and sees great potential in this team’s upcoming games.
“We have a lot of talent so I’m really excited to keep working and see how we do in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference play,” Harris said. “I think we will be really good as long as we all continue to work really hard.”
The Chargers will next compete in the Lewis Dome Invitational Feb. 20-22.
