COTTLEVILLE, MO – No. 5-rated Indian Hills learned a hard lesson on the road yesterday falling to St. Charles in game one of a doubleheader before staging an epic comeback in the nightcap to salvage a split with the host Cougars.
After being tagged with claims of not being ready to play in the 7-3 loss in the opener by IHCC Head Coach Lindsay Diehl, the Warriors looked like they were on the verge of being swept as St. Charles had a 9-2 lead with just three innings to play in the second contest.
That's when the bats finally woke up.
Diehl's troops plated ten runs over the next three frames to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, allowing the Warriors to board the bus with a satisfying 12-9 victory and moving IHCC to 3-1 on the season.
"In game one, we didn't show up ready to play," Diehl said. "The kids were not playing one pitch at a time, and were too focused on what we weren't doing right instead of playing in the present moment. It was a great learning lesson for us that you have to show up and compete every pitch, no matter what happened in the last pitch."
"We just keep working to get the kids to have the mindset of, 'so what… next pitch.'"
The fifth inning of game two showed the Warriors weren't about to roll over as IHCC scored three runs with two outs to pull within 9-5 on the strength of four straight hits from Nicole Bellis, Maddy Findley, Bryanna Mehaffy and Alex Beard.
The real fireworks came in the sixth frame, however.
The inning got off to a quick start as freshman Gracie Jevyak brought her left-handed bat to the plate and delivered a triple to spark the Warriors.
"I keep telling kids that are not starting that they have to stay ready because you are going to be called upon, and Gracie's triple really opened it up for us offensively."
Jevyak's triple was the first of what would be six hits in the frame, which equaled the total Warrior hits from game one, as IHCC would send all nine batters to the plate, scoring five more runs to seize a 10-9 lead.
The Warriors would tack on two more in the seventh for good measure after back-to-back RBI-doubles from Gretta Hartz and Chloe Olson, and the split was sealed after C.J. Banner retired ten straight Cougars to end the contest.
"I was really proud of the shift in demeanor in game two," Diehl added. "We played with much better energy. I watch some growth happen in the mental game that no matter what the score is, we battle every pitch. Sometimes we have to lose to learn, and coming back with the split created a lot of lessons for us."
The Warrior offense was led in the finale by four different IHCC players that went 3-for-5 at the plate. Olson had a pair of doubles and two RBIs to highlight her three-hit performance, while Findley and Beard had three RBIs each. Mehaffy added three singles as well.
Hartz was 2-for-5 with her fifth-inning double and scored three times. Bellis added three walks to go with her fourth-inning two-bagger and had three runs scored.
Banner pitched all seven innings in the circle to garner her second win in as many outings. The Warrior right-hander gave up nine hits and struck out ten with four walks, but just five of the nine runs on her ledger were earned.
"C.J. just kept working and battling their hitters, which gave our offense a chance to come back to give her the win," Diehl said.
In the opener, freshman righty, Malarie Huseman was tagged with the loss dropping her season mark to 1-1. Huseman went all seven frames, surrendering ten hits on six strikeout and two walks. All six Cougar runs were earned.
Bellis was one of the few bright spots as the Warrior offense was in a slumber in the opener as she went 2-for-3 with a double and one run scored. Hartz added a triple to the cause and Mehaffy, Olson and Moffet all added singles to the six-hit Warrior total.
The Warriors (3-1) are supposed to travel to East Peoria on Saturday to face Illinois Central, but that date with the Cougars is up in the air due to wet grounds. The contest could be delayed, so stay tuned to Indian Hills social media for updates.
IHCC is slated to travel south to Missouri and Arkansas midweek to get in a doubleheader with State Fair on Wednesday before taking part in the annual Crowder Bash Tournament in Fayetteville on the weekend. The Warriors are scheduled to have a pair of games each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday before returning home to prepare for their home and conference opener on Wednesday, March 17 against Southwestern.
Game One
Indian Hills 011 100 0 – 3
St. Charles 120 022 x – 7
WP – Davis, LP – Huseman (1-1)
Game Two
Indian Hills 000 235 2 – 12
St. Charles 031 500 0 – 9
WP – Banner (2-0), LP – Hultz