The Alcovy High School softball team is now 0-3 this season after dropping Tuesday’s game against Region 3-AAAAAA opponent Evans High School. An error-filled game caused the Tigers to lose 8-0 to the Knights at home.
The Knights hit the ground rolling in the first inning of the game, scoring four runs on two hits. Alcovy pitcher Tanisha Williams walked three Evans players in the inning, allowing the Knights to have their bases loaded with just one out at the start of the game.
“We definitely need to back up our pitching,” assistant coach Kelly Guglietta said after the game. “We’re throwing way too many pitches, so that’s definitely a problem for our pitcher, wearing her out by the second inning. Also, we needed to improve some of the mistakes at the plate, being able to block a ball, talking as a team on defense and figuring out where things need to happen.”
In the bottom of the inning, the Tigers suffered three outs in a row, including two strikeouts by Evans pitcher Sam Davis.
The Knights came back in the second inning to score again when a hit by Davis scored sophomore shortstop Morgan Johnson despite having two outs.
The Knights scored three more runs and notched four more hits in the third inning to go up 8-0 and essentially put the game away early. The Tigers had just two hits in the game compared to Evans’ eight.
The Tigers had plenty of errors and miscommunication in the outfield, allowing the Knights to rack up base runners. After the game, Guglietta and head coach Brandy Keeter also advised the Tigers about being smarter at the plate.
“Today we basically focused on being aggressive at the plate isn’t what we need,” Guglietta said. “I think their two pitchers combined threw 55 pitches, and we were passed that with our pitcher at the second inning, and they threw the entire game. So we’re being way too aggressive at the plate, and basically just swinging at everything, which is not what we need, so we’re not getting any hits. We had two hits, which is not going to cut it for this region.”
According to Guglietta, this is the first time that Alcovy has gone 0-3 at the start of their season. The Tigers will need to tighten up its defense before heading to Grovetown High School to take on the 5-2 Warriors.
“We need them to be behind each other, so when we are struggling getting things that we want, we’re able to back them up,” Guglietta said. “Our pitching needs to be secure so their fielders are going to catch the ball and make an out.”
