Varsity team looking for small improvements

Rochelle girls fall to Morris 20-0

Russell Hodges
Posted 4/17/17

Sometimes the best thing to do after a tough game is to simply move forward.

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Varsity team looking for small improvements

Rochelle girls fall to Morris 20-0

Posted

ROCHELLE — Sometimes the best thing to do after a tough game is to simply move forward.

Looking to snap out of a long funk, the Lady Hubs varsity softball team took its home field on Tuesday for a conference contest with the Morris Redskins. But the scoring was early and often for the visitors, who piled up 11 runs in the top of the third inning and won the game by a final score of 20-0.

“I think we’re having some better at-bats and I think we’re putting the ball in play a lot more,” head coach Lindsay Suess said. “We’re making some plays on defense… We always try to stay positive after games and we always talk about the things we did well rather than the things we didn’t do well.”

Unfortunately for the Lady Hubs, who dropped to 1-12 on the season with the loss, the Redskins were a difficult matchup from the start. Improving to 17-2 on the season with the victory, the Morris girls took control of the contest right away, scoring four runs in the first and three more in the second to take a 7-0 lead over Rochelle.

Senior Jenna Feltes and junior Faith Roush took the mound on Tuesday, and both girls battled hard against a talented Redskins lineup. Even though the Morris bats proved to be too strong, Suess said after the game that she was happy with how the girls competed, particularly Roush, who she said has emerged since the start of the season. Suess also credited senior Christina Payton for her recent play.

“Faith has come up big with her pitching for us and some hitting,” Suess said. “I think Christina’s defense and hitting have been exceptionally better since the beginning of the season and it’s really nice to see.”

The Lady Hubs will try to stop the bleeding on Thursday when they continue conference play against Ottawa. For Suess, she said there are two important things the girls must do if they hope to lock down their second victory this year.

“We have to put the ball in play, especially against good pitchers, and somehow we’ve got to record outs,” she said.