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Pleasant Valley splits twin bill with West

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By Sean Moeller | Friday, June 08, 2007 |

Pleasant Valley softball coach Rusty Van Wetzinga spent a considerable portion of his afternoon wondering why his hitters were looking at so many pitches in a Mississippi Athletic Conference opening doubleheader against Davenport West.

Falcons pitcher Jamie Davis struck out 11 in the first game, but even when the Spartans were making contact and putting balls into play, they were doing so after watching a number of strikes zip past to catcher Christine Stock.

One Davis pitch that didn’t get by was jumped on by opposing pitcher Anna Sokolik and tagged to the gap in right field for a run-scoring double in the seventh inning.

Sydney Huston scored to tie a game that West led by a run for almost 2 hours. In the bottom of the eighth, No. 6 hitter Lynn Ralston caught up with another Davis pitch — one of only five hits the Falcons allowed — and turned it into a walk-off double, scoring Erin Mykleby for the 2-1 victory.

“I knew that something good would happen,” said Sokolik, who stayed on to throw a 6-4 complete game loss in the second game.

“Even in the second game, some of our girls were getting in the hole taking some good pitches,” Van Wetzinga said.

The Spartans (4-3) had a difficult time finding hits in the second game, but they had a harder time in a bumpy second inning where a pair of errors and three singles yielded the Falcons (2-2) four runs and a firm hold on the day’s split.

“We had some opportunities to score in that first game and we just didn’t do it. Getting the split, it was good for our kids,” West coach Steve Saladino said. “We went back and forth with (Hailey Nichol and Davis on the mound; switching three separate times in the second game). I was going to leave Hailey in, but she wasn’t finding the strike zone and that happens some nights.”

Sean Moeller can be contacted at (563) 383-2288 or at smoeller@qctimes.com . Comment on this story at www.qctimes.com.