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GCCC softball splits home opener
Published 2/23/2009 in Sports : GCCC
By KEVIN THOMPSON
After taking their show on the road to start the season, the Lady Broncbusters were 4-2. They were curious to see how the show would play at home on Sunday when they took the stage against Western Nebraska.
The reviews were mixed, but Coach Phil Terpstra thinks his team will put it all together and have a hit on his hands as the season progresses.
After dropping the first game 5-0, Terpstra's team rebounded with a 7-4 win.
The Lady Busters dropped a pair of games on Friday, as well as the opening game, so he knew what he wanted to see from his team.
"We wanted to see how we responded, and we responded well," he said. "We battled, and that's what we want. I thought the effort was really good in the second game."
A battle it was, too, in the early going.
With the score tied at 2-2 after the third inning, Garden City found a star in Alexa Harvey. She hit a dramatic home run on a 3-2 count straight into a strong wind over the centerfield fence to give the Lady Busters a 3-2 lead.
That spark inspired the Lady Busters in the next inning. Western Nebraska brought in first-game winner Kelsey Garner, who had struck out 10 in the opener. But she had lost some of that luster as she gave up four runs when Garden City broke the game open against her.
In game one, Taylor Cange looked on track early, striking out the first two hitters. Then she gave up two solo home runs with the wind over the leftfield fence and the Lady Busters couldn't recover.
Cange struck out five and walked none, but Western Nebraska got at least one hit every inning while Garden City struggled on offense.
"Taylor didn't pitch that bad," Terpstra said. "But when you don't score, it's tough."
After Friday's losses, Terpstra was concerned about his team's energy level.
"I thought our energy level was a lot higher and we were a little more aggressive, especially in that second game," he said.
"The big thing right now is learning. We just want the effort right now. In six of our eight games, our effort's been pretty good. We just want to do a better job with being consistent with the effort," Terpstra said.
He'll get a chance to see if this effort carries over into the next few games. The Lady Busters will travel to Miami, Okla., to play two doubleheaders this weekend.
Game 1
Western Nebraska 5, GCCC 0
| Western Neb. | 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 | — 5 | 12 | 0 |
| Garden City | 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 | — 0 | 6 | 1 |
Western Nebraska: Garner and Townsend. GCCC: Cange and Jeanjaquet. W - Garner. L - Cange.
2B -Western Nebraska: Pearson, Groves Gomez and Smith; GCCC: Stefanski and Harvey. HR Pearson, Groves (2). LOB -Western Nebraska 7; GCCC 11.
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Game 2
GCCC 7, Western Nebraska 4
| Western Neb. | 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 | — 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Garden City | 1 0 1 0 1 4 X | — 7 | 10 | 1 |
Western Nebraska: Simpson, Garner (6) and Townsend. GCCC: Harvey and Courtois. W - Harvey. L - Garner.
2B - Western Nebraska: Garner; GCCC: Haslam and Courtois. HR - Western Nebraska: Hagen; GCCC Archuleta and Harvey. LOB - Western Nebraska 10; GCCC 9.
Found 2 comment(s)!
Thanks.
Thank you for the correction.
Posted by: Emily Behlmann, Web editor on 3/5/2009
Game 2 GCCC 7, Western Nebraska 4
Thank you for the great articles, however I do have one correction to make. In game 2 against W. Nebraska, Courtois (not Dunkle) caught for Garden City. Thank you!
Posted by: Francie Courtois on 3/5/2009
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