Highland Community College Names Softball Coaches for the 2021-22 Season
Highland Community College is pleased to announce that Gregory Cary has been named the new Head... Read More
Highland Softball Shows Well in Fort Worth
published February 27, 2012Highland Softball Shows Well in Fort Worth
The HCC softball team competed in the Cowtown Classic tournament this past weekend in Fort Worth, TX. This was a good opportunity for the Scotties to see how they measured up against highly ranked NJCAA DI teams.
In their first contest of the tournament, Highland came out on top of a very tough Weatherford College team 9-3. Zuzana Kudernatschova (Czech Republic) pitched seven innings for the win. Despite not having her best outing, Kudernatschova scattered only four hits while striking out ten Weatherford batters. Leading the offensive charge for Highland was Kayleigh Foxcraft (Omaha, NE) who went 3-4 with a homerun and 3 RBI’s.
Game two for the Scotties was a matchup with perennial power Midland College. In the top of the first inning, Midland wasted no time getting on the scoreboard with a two run homerun. Highland was not easily intimated and showed they were very capable of playing with the elite Midland team. In the bottom of the first inning, they scored four times on five hits. The big hit of the inning came by way of a two run homerun by Jessie Troupe (McLouth, KS). Katie Slibowski (Lathrop, MO) settled down on the mound and pitched a very solid game for the Scotties, but in the end, Midland chipped away at the lead and came out on top 6-5. Skyler Gentry (Fort Worth, TX) went 2-3 with two runs, and Kayla Gritt (Arlington, TX) was 2-4.
Highland’s road would not get any easier in the final game of the day as they had to face defending region champion Odessa College. This game was an offensive battle from the start. The two teams combined to score fifteen runs in the first inning, setting a blistering pace for the rest of the game. The combined offenses scored thirty runs on twenty-nine hits, including seven homeruns. Despite outhitting Odessa, Highland was behind in the run total and lost the game 16-14. In this game, Jessie Troupe would hit her second homerun of the day and add three RBI’s, Raven Nolan (Topeka) and Lauren Massey (Lawrence) were both 3-3.
Saturday’s games matched the Scotties against fellow Jayhawk Conference member Independence Community College and Western Texas College. In the Independence game, Highland did not want to show their hand to their conference foe. Independence did put together a good offense and beat the Scotties 8-1. The Scotties didn’t manage much offense in the loss to the Pirates. Against Western Texas, Highland got things back on track. Once again Zuzana Kudernatschova would display her dominance on the mound by allowing only three hits while striking out ten. The Scotties played an efficient game and easily disposed of Western Texas 4-0. Kayla Gritt once again led the offense with a 3-3 performance, including her first homerun of the season.
Overall, Coach Heidi Jordan was satisfied with her team’s effort on the weekend. “We did a lot of things well and a few things not so well. We need to find ways to come out on top in those close games. Those teams were very strong and to have a chance to win each one of those games is very exciting for our team. If we can improve on the things that went wrong, we could very well compete for the conference title again this season.”
The Scotties’ next action is on Tuesday as they host conference games against Kansas City Kansas at Scottie Park.
