Herkimer softball escapes the nor' easter going 7-3 in Myrtle Beach, SC
Herkimer Softball kicked off their season escaping the cold and snowy north, for the cold and rainy south. The Generals began their trip down to Myrtle Beach, SC on Friday, March 10th to stop and face two high level NJCAA schools at Sheilah R. Cotton Field in Louisburg, NC. The Generals started off the season with a win over DII Patrick Henry Community College 7-0, but ended up splitting on the day after falling to the DI host Louisburg College 11-5.
The Generals battled the poor weather their first day in Myrtle Beach Sunday March 12th. Their first opponent was Division II Lewis & Cark Community College. Herkimer's spirit and drive was not waivered by the cold and rainy weather as they battled their way to a 9-7 win produced by the big bats of sophomore Jackie Gardner (Syracuse, NY) sophomore Casey Boltersdorf (Levittown, PA) and freshman Allison Lockwood (Windsor, NY). Gardner strung together two doubles and scored three runs on the bases. Boltersdorf hit a three run bomb over the right field fence, and Lockwood scratched two RBIs that game. Freshman Keeanna Wolcik took her second win of the season in the circle and earned seven strike-outs.
The Generals were meant to play DIII rival Brookdale the next game but unfortunately it was called for poor weather conditions after just two and a half innings resulting in an incomplete game and all statistics accumulated null and void.
Monday proved to hit ultimate lows and highs as Herkimer dropped their first game 8-0 to DI Southeastern Illinois. Cold bats and timely errors plagued the Generals as they were only able to string together 6 baserunners and left them all on the pond. They were fortunately quickly able to turn the page and come back to defeat DIII Camden 11-2 in five innings per the 8 run mercy rule. The Generals had two huge innings to add onto their first run in the first, scoring 5 runs in the third and another five runs in the fifth to end it 11-2. Slappers Paige Crittela (Syracuse, NY) and Taylor Fry (Gasport, NY) were thorns in Camden's side all game as they both had a combined five hits, four runs, four RBI's and 2 stolen bases.
Herk Softball was on a roll winning their next three games vs. DII Mercer 5-3, DII Delaware Tech 10-5, and DIII #3 Brookdale 9-0 in 5 innings. The Generals split in their series with Mercer on the week losing 9-5 Wednesday but quickly bounced back the next day in their rematch versus DI Southeastern Illinois taking them down 10-3. Herkimer finished the trip with a record of 7-3.