West burns trough Southeast in the heat of the series

Despite being a scorcher, Day 2 was all about how the West won. The Southeast team from Damascus, Va., was able to pick up a come-from-behind 17-5 win against EMEA the day before but couldn’t fend off the USA West, falling 3-2, under the hot August sun.

Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor
Jordan Richards winds up at the mound during the Senior League Softball World Series in Roxana.

Northwest/Mile High Little League out of Butte, Mont., started off the game strong, as Calley Bosch rounded the bases following a shot to centerfield, to give USA West an early lead. Steady hitting in the first and second innings from Bosch, Mariah Robinson and Hattie Thatcher was all the West needed to pull ahead.

Southeast pitcher Morgan Lowe batted in catcher Megan Honaker in the fourth and sixth innings, but Jordan Richards and a tight defense one-upped her, sealing the 3-2 win, in favor of the West. Despite the loss, Lowe struck out nine. The West averaged less than four at-bats in the seven innings but played a strong defense, denying the Southeast a chance to tie up the game.

Both teams are first-year veterans in the World Series, but for West manager Bill “Chunky” Thatcher, the game had to be played like any other.

“Most of these teams have a game in them before we even get to them,” he said. “Of course, our girls are going to have a little bit of nerves, but to me, a team’s a team. You can’t look at who’s on the field. You just have to play hard, compete and, normally, good things will happen.”

The sweltering temperatures – something that his team is unfamiliar with – eventually started to wear his girls down.

“Toward the end,” he added, “our bats were going down and we were a little tired. The heat started to have a little effect on us, but they held together pretty well.”

His team remained persistent, and that’s all he wanted.
Coastal Point • Jesse Pryor
Callie Bosch and Kelcie Boltz converge on third base, trying to get an opponent out.

“If you go out there and play soft and nervous,” Thatcher said, “you know and I know, you’re not going to play your best. You’re going to miss the ball. Even considering it’s their first time in the series, I thought they were pretty well relaxed.”

A strong presence at the plate is what he’s hoping will help carry his team to victory later in the tournament.

“In the couple of games I’ve seen,” Thatcher said, “No one’s shown a lot of anything, I haven’t seen pitchers throwing anything that we can’t hit. Seven out of the 10 girls that are playing can hit it the ball out of the park at any crack of a bat.”

One adversity Thatcher’s team is playing through is the lack of their starting pitcher, who tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last basketball season.

“It’s definitely a disappointment,” said Thatcher. “She is also our three-hitter, but the rest of the team has been pulling their weight. They’re all making up for it. It’s a shame, but, as I told her, part of being an athlete is injury. I know she’ll come back even stronger. She threw in the low 60s, but the other three girls have stepped up and got us here.”

Southeast coach Joe Richardson recognized that the rest of the games in the tournament were not likely to result in an overpowering score, as the first one did. But, despite their loss to the West he noted, “We’re a long way from being out of it. We just have to continue to hit well. We were swinging today and never found the gap. Our girls are going to relax tomorrow, then come back, and it’s game-face time.”