Eagles Come Out Flat in Softball Loss

For more than five innings Friday morning, the bats for the West Deptford High School softball team seemed to be on spring break with the rest of the team.

Then senior Jade Blair ripped a line drive that seemed destined to wake up the Eagles and steal a victory. Instead, it found the glove of the Overbrook third baseman, ending the team’s only real scoring threat in a disappointing 1-0 loss.

Blair's liner came with runners on second and third with two outs and her team trailing by one in the bottom of the sixth. Already with two hits on the day, Blair smoked a pitch down the third base line that found the glove of the third baseman, before popping out. The Overbrook player had enough time, however, to pick up the ball and throw Blair out at first to end the threat.

“We came out a little flat and tried to pick it back up but we just didn’t get those key hits when there was runners in scoring position,” Blair said.

The first part of Blair's response summed up the game as both teams looked lethargic for the 11 a.m. start.

“A change in routine can cause that lack of energy or flatness, and I felt that right when I got here,” said West Deptford head coach Amanda Schramm. “(Overbrook was) going through the same situation, it seemed like it was just a flat game all the way around.”

Overbrook scored the game’s only run in the fourth, collecting consecutive two-out hits off losing pitcher Marissa Linquist. The Eagles got a spark from their bench when Stephanie Ponto led of the sixth with an infield single and was bunted to second on a sacrifice by Megan Sullivan.

After a strikeout, Sydney Ponto singled then stole second to set the stage for Blair. After Blair was retired, Linquist kept Overbrook of the board in the seventh to give the Eagles one final crack, but they went down in without a whimper to drop their second straight.

“The bats were just so far in front that we were just catching it on the end so we could get base runners on,” Schramm said. “We didn’t get much going at all.”

The lack of energy and offense may have been attributed to the time of the game, but the team understands that it cannot afford to have those kinds of letdowns.

“I think people were tired and didn’t really come out and want to play,” sophomore catcher Kat Ziegler said. “I think we tried, we just weren’t hitting.”

The two-game losing streak came as a bit of a surprise considering it was preceded by the Eagles’ biggest win of the season—a 5-2 win over previously undefeated Sterling that featured five runs coming in the final inning.

West Deptford will hope to shrug of its recent woes today as it is right back in action.

“We came off a real big high and sort of dropped,” said Blair, “but we are going to try and pick it back up [Saturday] for the Hammonton Tournament.”