By HUNTER O. LYLE
BRADFORD, PA – With equal parts of patience and power at the plate as well as a hive-mind defense in the field, the Bradford softball dominated Oswayo Valley, winning 13-3 in six innings.
Coming into Wednesday’s matchup, the Lady Owls and Lady Green Wave had already played once before. On Friday, April 25, Bradford traveled into hostile territory and left with a win after loading up their side of the scoreboard early. With the memory of that loss still lingering in their minds, OV looked to come out aggressively.
Their lead-off batter, MaKenna Manning, started off strong with a perfectly placed bunt that gave her real estate on first base. After moving to second on a sacrifice grounder immediately after, Manning burst off the bag from a subsequent single, passing third on the way to home as she put the Lady Green Wave on top early. However, Bradford would stifle their surge thereafter, picking up the final two outs in the next three batters.
While OV’s bats seemed to be a threat, they lacked the same kind of confidence in the circle. Bradford would load the bases in their first four batters as the Lady Green Wave gave up walk after walk. Mackenzie Taylor would then even the score on a wild pitch, screaming down the home stretch and sliding in for the Lady Owls’ first run of the day.
Although Bradford would reload the bases on two more walks, they failed to bring in another score, instead falling by way of a tag out at home and a pop out. However, their defense would remain rock solid, dispatching OV in the second and third in just seven batters.
“Tonight, the goal was to focus. It was the word of the day going into the game,” said Bradford head coach Katie Greene. “During our warm ups, I said practice with focus and just take it one inning at a time and that’s what we did. We just started focusing on one inning at a time and remained focused and never lost focus.”
Mallory Craig fields a pop fly during the Lady Owls’ impressive home field defense against the Lady Green Wave. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
Going scoreless themselves in the second frame, the Lady Owls would find another burst of runs in the third. After Alexis Kicior reached on another walk and Daisy Greene got caught out at first, Alyssa Johnson would find the first big hit of the day, cracking a double that drove in Kicior. Moving to third on a wild pitch and then joined on base by Mallory Craig’s walk, Jackie Sipko would tally her first RBI with a hard hit single that broke through the infield.
From there, Bradford had all the momentum on both sides of the plate. Continuing to stump OV on defense, the Lady Owls’ bats would not be denied. In the bottom of the fourth, Taylor and Bella Zandy would find their first hits in the form of back-to-back singles before Kicior once again would drive in a run from another single. With two runners on, Bradford would pull ahead by five with a double from Daisy Greene.
“We had already played this team and we knew to sit back and be patient a little bit and then when the opportunity presents itself, swing away,” said Katie Greene. “In the early part of the game, it was just being patient and waiting for the right pitch. In the second half, against a type of pitching we thrive on, we told them to get up there and go to town.”
One at-bat later, Adilynn Brown made the most out of her bunt, reaching first before rounding an overthrow to first bring in Sipko. Loading the bases with two outs, Daisy Greene once again showcased her power with a single into left field that scored two Lady Owls. Before the end of the frame, Bradford would go up 10-1 with another RBI from Johnson.
After five scoreless innings, the Lady Green Wave would finally find some production at the plate in the top of the sixth. Hitting two singles in their first three batters, a double from Layken Enty pushed in a pair. However, they would leave two runners stranded with back-to-back strikeouts.
Daisy Greene hurls a pitch down range during the Lady Owls’ big win over Oswayo Valley. Through six innings, Greene found six Ks. | Photo by Hunter O. Lyle
On the verge of a mercy-rule win, Bradford wasted no time as they quickly put runners on base. Sipko made her way to second on a line drive single and OV overthrow before Brown brought her across home plate with another single and overthrow to first. Just one run away from a win, Zandy nabbed a single and while the Lady Green Wave earned an out at third, back-to-back overthrows would result in a scramble around the diamond that saw Bradford score the game-sealing score.
Along with her six strikeouts in the circle, Daisy Greene ended 2-for-3 with a team-high four RBIs. Johnson tallied two RBIs during her 2-for-3 day at the plate, also scoring once while Taylor scored three times, finding one hit in three appearances.
Improving to 7-5 with five wins in their last eight games, Bradford is steadily making strides as the ensuing playoffs approach. However, with five games left on their schedule, they know there is still work to be done before they think about competing for a District 9 title.
“There’s still five games to go,” said Katie Greene, “so we’re excited about tonight’s victory but we’re going to take it one game at a time.”
AT BRADFORD
R H E
Oswayo Valley 100 002 3 5 7
Bradford 102 343 13 5 3
OV: West (2 SO, 5 BB), Mesler (3) (2 SO, 1 BB) and Manning
BR: Greene (6 SO, 1 0 BB) and Johnson
