Lady Yoe 2-3 in softball tournament
The Cameron Lady Yoe softball team hosted an in season tournament last weekend.
Their first game came on Thursday against the Teague Lady Lions, where the Lady Yoe lost 8-1. Teague took the lead by stealing home base in the first inning. The Lady Yoe struggled to put runs on the scoreboard and had a tough time on defense and failed to keep Teague in check.
Teague scored four more runs in the second inning, three of them coming off a three run home run. Cameron’s lone run came in the second inning when Nevaeh Billingsley (15) stole home. The Lady Lions piled on more in the third inning with a pair of two out runs.
Teague topped it off with a run in the fourth inning. One of Cameron’s positive for the game was that they didn’t commit any errors on defense. Samantha Frausto (12) took the loss for Cameron. She pitched all six innings, allowing eight hits and walked three batters.
The Lady Yoe played two games on Friday. The first game was against the Temple Lady Wildcats, where they were defeated 4-1.
The Lady Yoe started off slowly as the allowed two runs in the first inning on wild pitch and a solo home run. Cameron tried to answer with some offense in the bottom of the first but was unable to do so. Frausto responded with a clean second inning. Cameron had another chance to respond in the bottom of the third inning but was unable to score due to some mistakes with base running. Frausto came through with another shutout third inning. Cameron had another chance to respond in the bottom of the third inning but was unsuccessful to due to some more mistakes with base running.
“We didn’t run the bases the best we could, and we got caught in some jams there where we thought we could advance,” Coach Chris Sommerfield said. “I’m never gonna back the girls off from being aggressive, it was just some bad luck. And you combine that bad luck with hitting the ball right at some people, that’s kinda what it adds up to sometimes.”
The Lady Yoe allowed a two out run in the bottom of the fourth on a base hit single to make Temple’s lead 3-0.
In the fifth inning, Sommerfield made a pitching change. Peyton Polson (18) would come in for Frausto. Polson performed well and pitched a shutout fifth inning. Her luck ran out in the sixth as she allowed a run on a wild pitch, increasing Temples lead to grow to 4-0. Fortunately, Cameron was able to avoid being shut out in the seventh inning on an RBI (Runs batted in) double from Lindsay Talafuse (11) to send Haley Tucker (6) home for the first and only run. Cameron would fall to Temple 4-1.
“I thought we struck the ball well, but they got to play defense and we struck a lot of good balls at them,” Sommerfield said about Temple’s defense and the tough luck on offense. “They had some defensive alignments that advantageous to what they knew their pitching was. Sometimes things like that happen, I don’t think it was anything necessarily. Their shortstop was pretty good, and she made a lot of outs, and made some bang bang plays there. But sometimes you hit it at them.”
The Lady Yoe’s second game of the day would be against the Mart Lady Panthers.
“I think the best thing we can do is just make sure we’re approaching the game mentally the way we’re taught and what we’re supposed to do and let it fall into place, and just relax and play. I think we’re just kind of pressing a little bit,” Sommerfield said on his game plan for the matchup against Mart. “We want to do something, we want to make something happen, but if we just do what we know we’re supposed to do, and approach the game the right way, that gives ourselves the best chance to win.”
The second game on Friday was against the Mart Lady Panthers, where they were shutout 7-0 in five innings.
The Lady Yoe tried to start the scoring with a two out single by Mia Wimmer (14) in the first inning but failed to do so when Talafuse struck out. Polson got the start for Cameron. She pitched first three innings shutouts and was in complete control early, then Mart started the offensive fireworks in the fourth inning, scoring a five run inning.
Frausto replaced Polson out of the bullpen in the fifth inning. It was a clean played game as both Cameron and Mart were sure-handed and didn’t commit any errors at all. The Lady Yoe planned to shake off these games and try to finish the tournament more positively.
The Lady Yoe played another two games on Saturday. The first game was against the Somerville Lady Yeguas. They were able to defeat Somerville 7-0 in four innings to get their first win in the tournament, in large part due to their much improved offensive game.
“We hit some quality pitches and I thought our approach at the plate was better,” Sommerfield said. “We were looking to be aggressive and attack.”
It did not take long for the Lady Yoe to get the scoring started. Lauren Harris (1) tripled in the first inning, which was followed by an RBI groundout for Wimmer to make it 1-0 to end the scoring in the first inning. Frausto got the start once again and pitched two innings of shutout softball. Cameron got the ball rolling in the third inning with a leadoff double by McKenzi Lara (5) and stole third base during the at bat for Harris. Harris hit an RBI single to make it 2-0.
Wimmer piled on with an RBI double to make the lead 3-0. The next at bat, Wimmer scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0 which allowed Billingsley to advance to third. Polson joined in on the scoring with an infield fly hit to make the lead 5-0 before the top of the third came to an end. Frausto would go on to pitch a shutout third inning.
“Based on what I was calling I think she was able to start pitches on the plate and move them out, and so they were rolling a lot of balls over and that’s a real key for her to be successful,” Sommerfield said.
Harris put the finishing touches on the game with a two RBI double to bring two more runners’ home to make it 7-0. The Lady Yoe defense also stepped up as well in the contribution to the important victory.
“Your pitcher throws some strikes, they put the ball in play, you start feeling good,” Sommerfield said. “And there’s a rhythm and a feel to the game that I thought we had today that we’ve kind of struggled to find in some of our other games. This kind of looked like the team that I figured we’d be able to have to compete.”
Cameron’s final game was against Anderson-Shiro, where they would try to win back-to-back games and close out the tournament on a positive note. Sommerfield believed if they kept up the way they were playing, they would have the same results.
“Well, there’s really no such thing as momentum, you just have to do what you’re supposed to,” he said. “If we stop doing what we’re supposed to, then the momentum is gone. So hopefully we can keep the same approach and move forward and believe in it, even thru some struggles.”
The Cameron Lady Yoe won their final game of the tournament against the Anderson-Shiro Lady Owls in a 13-0 shutout in four innings. The Lady Yoe started with a two out single by Wimmer.
Up next, Talafuse was able to get on base via walk, then both stole a base. Billingsley couldn’t get them home as she grounded out to end the first inning. Polson started the bottom of the first allowing a leadoff walk. She got out of it off a bunt pop out by catcher, Brooklyn McCall (8), and she threw the runner out at first for a spectacular double play. Next hitter flied out to end the inning. Polson led off the second inning with a triple, she scored on an RBI strikeout with the ball getting by the catcher from McCall for first run of the game. That was followed by a two run RBI triple for Harris for a 3-0 lead before the inning ended.
Polson went out and pitched a clean second inning. Cameron continued the offense with an RBI triple by Billingsley to bring in Talafuse, then an RBI single by Polson for a 5-0 lead. Polson continued in on the action and scored from third base on a fielding error before the inning ended to make the lead 6-0. Polson then went out and pitched another shutout third inning.
The Lady Yoe really piled on the runs in the fourth inning with an RBI double by Wimmer to score Harris for a 7-0 lead. Cameron would continue the scoring on an RBI single on a throwing error for 8-0 lead, which was followed by an RBI single by Polson to make the lead 9-0. Tucker earned an RBI on a groundout for a 10-0 lead. Taytum Moore (2) continued the offensive explosion with a two run RBI double for a 12-0 lead. The final run came on a pop up hit by Harris that was not caught to send Tucker home. After that, the umpires called the game by way of the mercy rule.
This win put the Lady Yoe’s tournament record at 2-3.