Lady ‘Cats Edge Rival Jersey Shore 5-3 (Video Report)

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Dave Peters Joins the 100 Win Club

JERSEY SHORE – The Lady Wildcats traveled down river to face neighboring Jersey shore for the second time in the 2015 softball season.

Everyone involved knew it was going to be a tight, hard-fought contest. Both squads have an abundance of talent, capable coaching and these two programs are quite familiar with their opponents as they often play on the same traveling squads in the off season. Truly, a traditional backyard rivalry was ready for it’s next chapter to be written.

For the Lady Wildcats, it was business as usual with solid effort from a mixed group of young freshmen and solid veteran play from the upperclassmen.

In their first meeting on April 14, the Lady Dawgs took advantage of some Central Mountain miscues and small cracks in the Lady Wildcat defensive amour earning a decisive 8-1 win. The second meeting would be a much tighter contest as Central Mountain seemed determined not to repeat the mistakes of the first meeting.

Shore scored single runs in the first two innings with The Lady ‘Cats responding with two runs of their own in the second inning to even out the scales at 2-2. It began with a solid double by senior, Mariah Major followed by a sharply hit single by junior, Sarah Reeder then junior, Madison Brown crushed a triple to the outfield fence, scoring both Major and Reeder in the process.

Then Central Mountain managed to keep Jersey Shore at bay for the next three innings while adding runs in both the third and fourth innings to take a 4-2 lead in the contest. In the third, Jessica Strouse and Bree Hilty smacked out a pair of solid singles, with Strouse eventually scoring from third base on an error by the Jersey Shore catcher.

In the fourth inning, Maddie Brown reached first on a walk, then advanced to second on a sac fly from freshman, designated player, Caitlin Brush. Then junior, Kimmie Coder kept patient in the batters box drawing a walk, followed by junior, Loren Morasco putting the ball in play allowing Brown to score on a fielder’s choice.

The final Central Mountain run in the seventh inning was a result of solid play of from the top of the order as Dershem received a walk, then Strouse was struck out. Bree Hilty smacked a single to advance the runner. Then Major sent Dershem home with a sac fly to close out the scoring.

The Lady Dawgs never broke stride and managed an additional run of their own in the sixth to narrow the margin to 4-3, then in the top of the seventh CM scored their faith run to extend the lead 5-3.

On the mound, freshmen, Josie Dershem once again received the call and was tireless in her effort going the distance giving up five hits on the day, no walks and striking out two batters. Dershem was backed up by a stingy and flawless defense taking every opportunity extended to them including a nifty heads-up double play by Madison Brown in the fifth inning that snuffed out a potential late game rally by Jersey Shore.

With the win, a new standard was set for Central Mountain softball. With the victory earned, it was marked as the 100th win for Wildcat head coach Dave Peters. Peters joined the Century Club in only his seventh season at the helm. The feat is also a solid indication of the talent and commitment of the entire program.

For more photos, video clips and post game interview with the coach, be sure to watch the Video Report below.

Video Report