Lady Bucks Grab Some Wins
by Katie Ditty
FARWELL – There are a couple of things for certain when it comes to softball. The first thing that comes to mind is that you cannot win games without offense. The next thing is that you cannot win games without defense.
Both of these things have become increasingly apparent to the Bucktail Lady Bucks this week. The two losses the Lady Bucks recorded this week can be attributed to a combination of only three hits and multiple fielding errors in both games. The losses were at the hands of Columbia Montour Vo-Tech and Galeton, both ending with 10-0 scores for the Lady Bucks.
On the other hand, their two wins were the complete opposite scenario. In the double-header against Millville on Monday, the bats came alive, combining for 23 hits for Bucktail. The error tally was one. Final scores for the Lady Bucks were 8-2 and 16-1 (in four innings).
It has been a turbulent ride so far for the Lady Bucks, with cancellations and postponements, injuries and illnesses, and now they are in the midst of playing half of their season in only nine days.
The one constant has been the pitching by Senior, Michaela Hills. This week she threw all four games, recording 13 strikeouts and one walk, and giving up an average of less than six hits per game.
Not only has Hills thrown exceptionally well, she is also hitting better than she ever has before. “Michaela is crushing the ball this season,” says Coach Lynn Gavlock. “All around, she is having a great season.”
That is great, as in batting .500, including three doubles, two triples, and a total of ten RBI’s in the first seven games.
Not far behind Hills in the batter’s box is Junior, Abby Ransom, who is batting .476, and has scored eight runs, a quarter of the teams total runs scored.
“At some point we need to put it all together and find some consistency,” added Gavlock. If that happens, they have a real chance of adding to the win column. They have plenty of chances to do just that in the remainder of this week, with home games on Wednesday (Columbia-Montour Vo-Tech), Thursday (Muncy), and a double-header Saturday at 11 a.m. with Sullivan County.
