BY HAILEY CHAPMAN
Senior pitcher and TMN journalist
The Fort Hays State University softball team had a strong start to the season, going 4-1 in our opening tournament.
Starting the weekend off in Lubbock, Texas, we faced UC-Colorado Springs. Two years prior, we faced the Mountain Lions in Colorado in a high-scoring game where we suffered a loss as the game was called due to inclement weather. In that game, the defense on both sides was barely able to pitch or field a ball due to freezing rain and temperatures dropping below freezing.
UCCS is a power hitting team and did not let up the entire seven innings. This year was a similar story; in a high scoring game, we were able to come out on top 14-10 as the bats came alive early with a timely grand slam from senior Lexie Velazquez that led us to the win. Lexie was down in the count 0-2 when she smashed a ball over the fence. This is a huge deal for us as a team because it shows that our preparation has paid off. Throughout the fall, our coaches have preached a strong two-strike mentality, and Lexie fully embraced their mantra in Game 1. The team voted Lexie as our MVP in her first game as a Tiger.
In Game 2 of the weekend, we faced some adversity. Our bats fell silent, with the lone run courtesy of an RBI double from freshman Kristen Reed. It was a pitchers’ duel through all seven innings, and though Michaelanne Nelson and I threw the best we could, we were unable to get our timing down in time to make adjustments at the plate. The team voted Reed as our MVP as she showed up big in her first collegiate at-bats. It was especially big for the freshman, as we were only able to string together six hits against Chadron State. The team was able to learn from our mistakes and came back ready to play on Day 2.
On Day 2, we were ready to bounce back after a heart-breaking game the night before. Led by Michaelanne Nelson on the mound, we gained our momentum and brought the bats back to life against Southern Nazarene. While the bats racked up 14 hits, Mikey was able to sit down 12 batters, a career high. Watching Mikey pitch gets the entire team motivated to go to work because of how gritty she is on the mound. She is able to work out of tough situations and fire pitches past batters. She is efficient and effective in her senior year. The team voted Mikey as our MVP because of the relentlessness she showed through all seven innings, earning herself and the team our second win.
By far the most intense, gritty game of the weekend came against New Mexico Highlands. Senior Lily Sale carried the team to a win. Sale racked up five RBI’s on the day, including her first home run as a Tiger. Until this year, Lily’s role in the box has always been small ball; she is a quick kid, so our coach is always having her bunt to either move runners or beat out a throw. When Lily is given the chance to hit away, however, she is able to send it sailing. This was exactly the case against NMHU. Lily found herself down in the count after attempting to bunt, and with an 0-2 count, she sent a moonshot over the left field wall. This was by far the most exciting moment of the weekend. We have girls in the lineup who are known for power, and Lily has always been known for speed. So seeing her absolutely crush a pitch out of the park put tears in my eyes because of how happy I was for her and the team. Alongside her outstanding performance at the plate, Lily was a brick wall at shortstop — specifically in the fourth inning. With runners on second and third, an NMHU batter hit a ball to the 5-6 gap off of me, and Lily laid out and made a throw from her knees to get the force out at third base to end the rally. Needless to say, Lily was our MVP for saving the game in every pressure situation.
In our final game of the weekend, we matched up against CSU-Pueblo before hitting the road back to Hays. It was junior Megan Jamison who proved to be the difference in this game. Jamison started the game in the circle and pitched two strong innings to set the tone before our coach put me in to finish it off. She allowed only three hits and one run, fully trusting her defense and forcing ground balls. While I was able to hold off the CSU offense for a few innings, they put pressure on in the seventh. With the score set at 5-3, I was able to push two outs before making an error that would put a runner on one. Immediately following, their next batter sent a curveball to right-center field and the runner on first was able to score. Just as our coach was about to change the tone and put Mikey back on the mound to shut them down, Meg brought something huge to our coaches’ attention. The CSU coach neglected to re-enter the batter I just faced and because she was not on the lineup that inning, it was an automatic out — ending the CSU threat. After the game, Coach Pilkington shared that never in her career as a coach has she had a player catch something like that. It was huge for us because it takes one play to completely change a game, and from the dugout, Megan was able to shut them down. “That game is a win for Megan Jamison in my book,” Pilkington said. Not only did Megan leave her heart on the field, she never checked out of the game and we all owe it to her for doing her part to get us a win.
We ended our weekend 4-1, stoked about our performance, but even more excited about the upcoming games. We travel to Oklahoma next weekend for another tournament before our home opener the following week against Kansas Wesleyan. We are all just hoping to keep the momentum and trust the process to build our legacy.