By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
Two solid pitching efforts helped Washburn Rural sweep Hayden on the softball diamond Tuesday at Rural to improve to 8-2 under first-year coach Joy Marie Galliart.
Freshman Olivia Koch picked up a complete-game victory in Washburn Rural's 10-2 first-game win over Hayden on Tuesday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
“Anybody who watched us in our first game on March 22 and came back and watched us now, I think they would see tremendous growth and improvement,” said Galliart, a longtime coach in Oklahoma who took over the Washburn Rural program during the offseason. “We’ve made huge strides in the three and a half weeks since then.
“Change is hard for kids when they’re trying to do it under a new coach with some new philosophies. So it’s taken some time for them to adjust to those changes, but we’re really starting to move in the right direction.”
Freshman Olivia Koch limited Hayden to two runs in the first game of the afternoon, leading to a 10-2 Junior Blues victory.
“I think Olivia’s been doing a great job as a freshman,” Galliart said. “She comes in and does everything we ask her to do both offensively and in the circle. We’re trying to work on getting her to trust her pitches and rely on her defense. But she’s doing some great things for us.”
“I knew she was a great athlete, and I knew that she was a pitcher. But I think we’ve been equally impressed with her defensive skills (in the outfield) when she’s not in the circle. She loves to run bases, so having her at the top of our lineup with her speed also gives us an added bonus.”
Junior Layla Collis is congratulated by Washburn Rural coach Joy Marie Galliart after a first-game home run. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Junior Avery Rupp celebrates a hit during Washburn Rural's doubleheader sweep over Hayden on Tuesday. [Photo by Rex Wolf/TSN]
Koch benefitted from 14 hits by the Junior Blues, including home runs by Avery Rapp and Layla Collins. Washburn Rural will not rely on home runs, however, according to Galliart.
“We got a couple of long balls, but we did a lot of other good things besides that,” Galliart said. “Our approach this year is we’re occasionally going to get a long ball, but we’re going to have to be able to manufacture runs. So, we’ve focused on somebody getting on base early in innings, somebody else moving them over, and somebody else being able to drive them in. And I think we had multiple examples of doing that in (the first) game.”
In a much closer second game, the Junior Blues relied on senior pitcher Makayla Ekis to hold Hayden in check. The Wildcats plated two runs in the first frame to grab an early lead. But Ekis allowed just one single the rest of the game, going the distance with seven strikeouts.
“She got the job done,” Galliart said. “I think she was feeling a little bit of pressure when they got a runner on base in the seventh. But she took care of business when we needed her to.”
FIRST GAME
WASHBURN RURAL 10, HAYDEN 2
Hayden 101 000 0 — 2 6 2
Washburn Rural 032 140 x — 10 14 0
Valdivia, Jeffers (5) and Carswell, Koch and H. Rapp. W — Koch. L — Valdivia. 2B — Washburn Rural: Collins, A. Rupp, H. Rapp. HR — Hayden: Delgado. Washburn Rural: A. Rupp, Collins.
SECOND GAME
WASHBURN RURAL 4, HAYDEN 2
Hayden (2-4) 200 000 0 — 2 3 0
Washburn Rural (8-2) 003 001 x — 4 11 0
Jeffers and Carswell, Ekis and H. Rapp. W — Ekis. L — Jeffers. 2B — Hayden: Peterson. Washburn Rural: Collins 2, Fowler, Martinez, A. Rupp, Wech.
