Lady Bucks back on track in 16-5 win over Sugar Valley
By Bees O’Brien
FARWELL, PA- 10 different Bucktail players collected base hits on Tuesday against visiting Sugar Valley. The Lady Bucks produced 14 total hits and once again found their groove in a 16-5, 5-inning Mid Penn Conference victory.
The victory snapped a 2-game losing streak for Bucktail. The visiting Phoenix was on a skid of their own. SVRC had lost four straight games following their dramatic season-opening 12-11 victory over St. Joseph’s Academy.
Freshman Lola English would be the first of three debuting pitchers that would see time in the circle during the contest. English was dominant early, tossing 2 hitless innings to start the game.
Bucktail would start the game in the bottom of the first on a mission. Haley Burrows would start things off with an infield single. Mak Wagner would keep things rolling when she would score Burrows on an error by the Phoenix outfield. Eva Sockman’s sac fly would score Wagner to give Bucktail a 2-0 lead, but this dangerous Lady Bucks offense was far from done.
Makenna Stone’s triple would keep the Bucktail rally going. Lily Francis would begin her big night at the plate with an RBI double that would score Stone. Kendall Wagner and Matti Mason would each collect first inning RBI’s and a Kayla Probert shot to the outfield would eventually score Mason to build the Bucktail lead to 9-0.
Sugar Valley pitcher Brynn Swanger was doing everything she was supposed to do. Swanger was accurate all afternoon, striking out five Lady Bucks in the process. She just happened to be staring down at a very hungry Bucktail squad that continued to hit the ball hard and four Phoenix errors in the first inning didn’t help Swanger’s cause.
Bucktail would pound out three hits in the bottom of the second inning that would lead to three more runs for the home team.
Senior Abby Miller would make her varsity pitching debut in the top of the third inning. Up 9-0, Bucktail head coach Mike Poorman would go to Miller in the circle. Miller would allow a pair of hits and three runs in the SVRC top of the third inning.
A single from Miller and a triple from English would spark another three-run inning in the bottom of the third inning to build the Bucktail lead to 12-3.
The top of the fourth inning would see Eva Sockman make her varsity pitching debut. Sockman would throw some serious heat to the three batters she would face, striking out two of them in the process.
Sugar Valley would plate a pair of runs in the fifth inning before Bucktail would finish off the Phoenix with four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
English picked up the win for Bucktail after three innings of work and striking out four batters Swanger picked up the loss.
Cheyenne Weaver led the way for Sugar Valley by going 2-3 on the afternoon with 3 RBI’s. Brynn Swanger and Keirsten Goldsmith also had hits for the Phoenix, who are now 1-5 on the season and will next be in action on Friday when they play at Millville.
Lily Francis led Bucktail at the plate with a double and two singles. Francis knocked in a pair of RBI’s. Kendall Wagner had a pair of hits and 2 RBI’s. Matti Mason also had a pair of hits with a double and a single. English and Stone each collected triples. Sockman, Burrows, Mak Wagner, Miller and Kayla Probert all had hits as well for Bucktail.
The Lady Bucks evened their season record to 2-2 on the year and 2-1 in conference play. They will next be in action Wednesday afternoon at St. John Neumann.
