Cards’ softball team gets individual efforts, but still fail to win

By PAUL DELANEY

Staff Reporter

The team result may not have been all that good, but some fine individual performances have emerged from Medical Lake’s 0-for-4 start in non-league games.

The Cardinals dropped road games to Newport 20-3 and 14-0 last Tuesday and then fell 18-1 and 9-6 at Kettle Falls Thursday, falling to 0-6 in non-league play. Medical Lake starts Great Northern League games with a doubleheader Saturday at Deer Park starting at noon.

Medical Lake coach Gai Daily singled out the individual efforts of a number of players including Melanie Hayes who had a pair of hits in the opener against Newport while Nikki Boyd added a double. Amelia Cook got the lone hit in the second game, but later found out an old basketball injury will sideline her for at least three weeks, if not the season.

Pitcher Becky Blakely started the second game strong. Through three innings Blakely gave up just five runs and struck out five, facing 11 batters, according to the coach. “Then it just kind of folded after that,” Daily said. A string of things – “a fielder’s choice, a hit, a hit, she hit somebody, a walk, she didn’t walk a lot of people, they were just hitting.”

With a number of players either sick or injured, Daily had to bring four players up from junior varsity. And adversity turned to opportunity for one Cardinal.

Kelby Wegner, a freshman, was one of the call-ups, and maybe an answer to Daily’s need for a pitcher. Wegner faced 33 batters, struck out eight, giving up nine hits and nine runs, six earned. “I told her to keep her uniform because she was up on varsity.”

The Cardinals hung with the Bulldogs, trailing 6-5 through the top of the sixth inning. Kettle Falls scored three in the bottom of the inning to get breathing room.

Hayes was 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored. Boyd had 2-for-4 showing at the plate, Cassie Shoben, 1-for-3 and a run scored. Blakely had a hit and scored once. Emily Paulson 1-for-3, as was Wegner who added a run scored to her impressive varsity debut.

Boyd also homered in the bottom of the second in game two for Medical Lake’s lone run.

Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.