There’s often a lot of conversation surrounding most sports about opportunities and how the team that takes advantage often wins while the team that doesn’t doesn’t.
That was certainly the case at Boyd Buchanan for the first day of action in the Division I-A East Region softball tournament where the host Lady Buccaneers advanced to Friday’s games at Silverdale with a 13-3 run-rule win over Christian Academy of Knoxville.
Take a look at the line score and you see where the Lady Warriors had 10 hits and the Lady Bucs 12, but the Lady Warriors failed to take advantage of their opportunities as they left a dozen runners stranded – including the bases loaded in the first, second and fourth innings.
The Lady Bucs also left seven runners stranded, but more often than not, they got key hits with runners on base as six of their 12 hits drove in runs.
Boyd Buchanan coach Tom Watson was pleased for the most part with the way his team played as they improved to 22-13 with Thursday’s win.
“We missed an extra point and only gave up a field goal, so I feel pretty good about that,” he began while sitting at the edge of the Lady Buc dugout as the crowd continued toward the parking lot.
“CAK had a lot of traffic out there as they put the bat on the ball, but we had a couple of big innings and some key hits. Kinley Ervin’s bases-loaded double in the third was huge.
“We struggled a little bit in the circle with our pitching, but tomorrow is a new day and we hope to play a little bit better at Silverdale,” he added, knowing that his girls will face Lakeway Christian in the second game about 5 p.m.
CAK coach Charles Matthews was quick to point to his team’s biggest downfall in their final game as their season ended at 15-14.
“It’s tough to leave the bases loaded three times in the first four innings, but we’re young and still learning how to win,” he began after a lengthy talk with his girls following the game.
“We hit the ball well, but just left too many runners on as we couldn’t get the big hit when we needed it. And I think we got a little tired at the end and frustrated over the lack of a big hit, but I thought we played well for the most part,” he nodded.
Both teams scored single runs in the first inning before Boyd took control by batting around in the third inning and scoring five runs.
The Lady Warriors added single runs in the fourth and sixth innings, but the Lady Bucs were even better by scoring two in the fourth and fifth before winning by the run rule after scoring three in the sixth.
Losing pitcher Emily Bogoski had a two-out single in the first and stole second before scoring on a single by M.G. Matthews. Charlotte Cole had a one-out single in the fourth and scored on another RBI-single by Matthews, but by the time Bogoski slugged a solo homer to lead off the sixth, the Lady Bucs were totally in control and well on their way to another win.
Winning pitcher Kiley Elliott had a two-out single in the third that drove in Cai Cai Butler with her team’s third run before Gracie Petty made it 4-1 with a double to drive in courtesy runner Kate Murley.
Alli Johnson singled and Sydney Baker was hit by a pitch to load the bases before Ervin drove in three runs with a double to left.
Every hitter in Boyd’s lineup had at least one hit and they all drove in at least one run.
Cole came in to pitch the sixth for the Lady Warriors and walked Johnson, Baker and Ervin to load the bases. Mercedes Smith then drove in two runs with a double into the corner in right before Butler ended the game with a sacrifice fly to left for the first out of the inning.
Cole, Bogoski, Matthews and Caroline Rogers all had two hits for CAK while Butler, Elliott and Johnson all had two for the Lady Bucs.
While Bogoski took the loss after allowing 10 runs on 11 hits while walking five and striking out three, Elliott was the winner after giving up two runs on eight hits. She also had a couple of walks while striking out seven before being replaced by Ervin with two outs in the fourth.
CHRISTIAN ACADEMY OF KNOXVILLE 100 101 – 3 10 1
BOYD BUCHANAN 105 223 – 13 12 2
Bogoski, Cole and Hill; Elliott, Ervin (4) and Johnson.