Avery Softball Drops Pair to Hendersonville, Polk; Junior Varsity Earns First Win of Season

The 2010 Avery Lady Vikings softball team continues to experience its share of growing pains as the early season progresses.

Last week the varsity team fell in a pair of tough challenges in road games at Hendersonville and at Polk County.

On Tuesday, March 23^rd the Lady Vikings squads traveled to Hendersonville to take on the Lady Bearcats in a varsity-only matchup of winless squads. The two teams played a close contest through four frames as Hendersonville held a narrow 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the fifth, however, the Lady Bearcats heated up and tallied nine runs to upend Avery by a 10-0 final score.

Becca Biggerstaff surrendered only one hit through her first four innings of work before Hendersonville put its rally together.

“We played really well defensively over the first four innings. The wheels kind of fell off a little bit there in the fifth inning,” Lady Vikings head softball coach Stephen Bunger said after the contest. “We struggled at the plate and we’re working to correct that.”

The scheduled Friday contest in Columbus between Avery and Polk County was moved to Thursday over weather concerns. Despite the change of day, the Lady Vikings’ luck did not, as Polk County’s pitching trio of Jamie Hrobak, Yancey Pace, and Alyssa Montgomery combined to pitch five innings of no-hit ball in an 11-0 Lady Wolverine varsity victory.

Avery starter Becca Biggerstaff pitched well despite the loss, giving up only six hits in the contest.

The Lady Wolverines scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning, and added five additional runs in the bottom of the second inning to take control of the contest.

“We still struggled to hit the ball against Polk. We’re giving up a lot of early runs and are playing from behind too much,” Coach Bunger added. “We’re having some mental lapses and hurting ourselves more than anything else.”

In the junior varsity contest, the Lady Vikings earned their first win of the season, defeating the Polk JV club by a 12-10 final score.

“The girls played really well and showed a lot of character and heart. They got in a tough spot in the fifth inning when Polk made a comeback, but I was proud of how they were able to hold on and get the win,” Coach Bunger said following the win. “We ran the bases well, hit the ball well, and played a good defensive game.”

Brittany Brewer stepped in the circle for the Big Red and was the game’s winning pitcher.

A number of Lady Vikings had good hitting days at the plate, including catcher Charley Puckett with a pair of hits, two runs scored by Gibson Slomkoski, and hits from Jordan Reep, Sara Carter, Nikki Wright, and Serena Ramos.

“Our girls ran the bases well and were patient at the plate to work several walks,’ Coach Bunger stated.

Avery will travel to Mountain Heritage on Thursday afternoon