Lady Wolverines play in Nampa tournament

The Lady Wolverines competed in a tournament in Nampa last Saturday, which included various divisions of softball teams from across the valley. 

 Despite their 0-4 tournament results, the Lady Wolverines competed against 5A and 4A schools and competed well but came up short.

Columbia

 The Wolverines faced Columbia High School first, taking an early 2-1 lead after the first inning.  Columbia added 3 hits and 2 runs in the second inning, but singles by Alex Bittinger, Whitney Cordes and Kaija Thompson had Bittinger and Thompson coming across the plate to score and maintaining a 1-point lead.

 With Erika Tyree on second after a single and a stolen base, May Erke smacked a line drive to center, adding another run in the third, but the Wildcats tied the game with a walk and a homerun.

 Despite a two-out rally double into the gap by Kali Branstetter in the fourth, she was unable to score before a fly out at second ended the Wolverine at-bat.  The Wildcats took their first lead of the game with one run.

 A single by Jakaela Ruiz, a Wildcat error and a walk placed three Wolverines in scoring position, but Ruiz was caught off base before Erke sent the long ball over the center field fence, scoring 3 runs and reclaiming an 8-6 lead.  

 However, the Wolverines struggled to get the last three outs in the fifth inning and allowed 4 runs across the plate to snatch the win, 10-6, from the Wolverines.

Kuna

 The Lady Wolverines struggled in their second pairing of the tournament against the pitching and hitting of the Kuna Cavemen, dropping the game 19-1 in 4 innings.

 With sophomore Kali Branstetter in the circle for the Wolverines, the ladies from Kuna managed one hit and one run in the first, off two Wolverine errors. Two hits, one walk and three errors brought three more Kuna players across the plate in the second inning, and the Kuna batters came alive in the third inning with 4 hits, 2 walks and 6 runs in the third.  

 With a scoring drought for their first 3 at-bats for the Wolverines, the Weiser ladies had a lot of ground to make up with a 10-0 deficit on the board.  A homerun by Makaela Ruiz over the left field fence got Weiser on the board.  

 Energized by the score, Branstetter doubled and Madison Phillips and Erika Tyree both hit singles, but Branstetter was put out in her attempt to score and a fly out and a strikeout ended the Wolverines’ chance at a comeback, ending the game for Kuna 19-1 after a 9-run fourth inning for the Cavemen.

Capital

 The Lady Wolverines faced the Golden Eagles from Capital High School in their next match-up, and the Wolverines held the Golden Eagles scoreless through five innings while putting up 2 runs off of 3 hits and 2 walks in the second inning, 2 runs from 2 walks and 2 hits in the fifth inning, and 2 runs from 3 hits and 1 walk in the sixth.  However, troubles plagued the Wolverines in the sixth, and the Golden Eagles  scored 10 runs.  Despite the 10 hits to 1 dominance of the Wolverine bats, the Golden Eagles took the game 10-6.

Fruitland

 The only game of the tournament with a 3A competitor came late in the day against league rivals, the Fruitland Grizzlies.

 The Lady Wolverines had trouble getting their bats warmed up through the first 4 innings, recording only 3 hits.  Despite getting 5 Wolverines on bags, they were unable to cross the plate to score.   Meanwhile, with Cordes on the rubber, the Grizzlies managed 1 run off 2 hits and a hit-by-pitch in the first, 3 runs off 3 hits, 2 errors and 1 walk in the second inning and 5 runs off of 5 hits, 1 error and 1 walk in the third inning to take a 9-0 lead over the Wolverines.

 The Lady Wolverines found a spark in the fifth inning, with doubles by Branstetter, Tyree and Cordes and a single by Phillips. A walk for Thompson and a trip to the first bag on an error for Bittinger, enabled the Wolverines to stop the scoring drought with 4 runs scored. However, neither team was able to score again, ending the game in favor of the Grizzlies 9-4.