Windsor tops Charles City
Charles City’s Panthers managed to get only three runners on base against Windsor pitching as the visiting Dukes stopped the hosts on a no-hitter in Tri-Rivers District baseball last Friday.
Windsor’s offense, meanwhile, used a six-run third inning to break open a close contest on the way to an 11-0 win in five innings, dropping Charles City to 0-2 in the district and 0-7 for the season thus far.
“Mentally, we just weren’t here to play,” said Panther coach Irving Bradby. “We couldn’t put two and two together, but we’ll be just fine. We’ve got young and inexperienced players who need to get more game time and then they’ll get better.”
Windsor gained a 1-0 lead in the first inning off Panther starter Evan Adkins, but could not inflict further damage until after Adkins retired the first batter in the third. Three straight hits opened the door for the Dukes who rapped five hits in the frame and took advantage of four Panther errors.
Panther bats, meanwhile, failed to touch Duke pitchers Clay Copeland and Bret Vaughan. Copeland worked the first three innings, striking out four while allowing only a third inning walk to Xavier Wallace. Roger Williams reached base in the second on an error. Vaughan finished up, fanning three and issuing a lone walk to Jeremy Abbott in the fifth.
Charles City’s Lady Panthers grabbed a 2-1 first inning lead, but Windsor’s visiting Dukes moved back in front in the second and put the game away with a 13-run third frame on the way to a 22-4 Tri-Rivers District softball win.
Last Friday’s outcome evened Charles City’s district record at 1-1 and dropped the Lady Panthers to 1-3 overall.
“I can’t explain that part,” Lady Panther head coach Kenneth Perrault said, pointing to Windsor’s 13-run explosion in the third.
“Once we started making mental mistakes, it just followed suit and I haven’t figured out how to work with that,” he said. “That’s something that the players are going to have dig deep inside themselves and overcome.”
Windsor took a 1-0 lead in the first, but in the bottom of the frame, Stefanie Burch drew a one-out walk and scored on Ashton Montez’s RBI single to tie the game. Montez later scored to hand the hosts a 2-1 lead.
The Dukes answered with eight second inning runs before the hosts pushed across a pair of runs in the home half to close the gap to 9-4. Kari Squire and Jasmine Binford both walked and scored on the same wild pitch and a subsequent throwing error.
But the hosts were unable to handle Windsor pitching the rest of the way, and the Dukes sent 18 batters to the plate in the third, capitalizing on eight hits and five Charles City errors. Montez’s single back in the first turned out to be the hosts’ lone hit of the game.