Williams News Logo
Grand Canyon News Logo

Trusted local news leader for Williams AZ and the Grand Canyon

Teams feel Ladies grip
Girls conquer Grand Canyon, Bagdad

Tasha Bowden pitches for the Lady Vikings April 5.

Tasha Bowden pitches for the Lady Vikings April 5.

The Williams High School girls' softball team continued their awesome streak this last week. The Lady Vikes took on Bagdad on the fields of Williams April 2 for two games. Coach Ann Wells said the Bagdad team, a 1A school, were strong wins for the Williams girls.

The girls took the win in the first game with a final score of Williams 10, Bagdad 9. Lady Vike Ashley Bean pitched the entire game for Williams.

"We started out slow. There was no score for either team in the first inning," Wells said. "The second inning we scored one. The third inning they scored two, so we were down 2-1 for a while."

The Lady Vikes managed to pull out however, scoring again in the fourth.

"We kind of broke it open with some runs," Wells said. "In the seventh inning, they were ahead 9-8. It was the bottom of the seventh and we had to score. We got (the) bases loaded and no outs. Erin McNelly hit two RBI's and we scored two runs and won the game. It was very exciting."

Defensively, however, the girls committed a number of errors, Wells said.

"Out of their runs we only gave up very few earned runs," she said. "I think, out of nine, they had four earned runs, so we gave them a lot defensively by our errors."

Kassie Pettit pitched for the Ladies in the second game against Bagdad, which wasn't going Williams' way at the start of the match. Williams managed to get it going in the fifth inning of play, however, after scoring a whopping six runs. The Williams girls managed to pick up another two in the bottom of the sixth as well, winning the game with a final score of Williams 8, Bagdad 3.

"We played a lot better defense in that game and our offense was strong," Wells said. "Chardelle Bennett had a very good game in left field. For the day she had four important catches for us. In the second game we were a little slow at the plate."

The games, Wells said, proved to be good exercise for Williams girls.

"These games are important to us because they are very good competition. Near the end of the season when we're looking at tough competition, that's going to make it better for us," Wells said.

The Lady Vikes saw one game drop off their schedule this month, as Fredonia cancelled their softball season, subsequently canceling the girls' scheduled match against them as well.

The Lady Vikings junior varsity squad played a couple of games recently as well, taking on Grand Canyon at Williams High School April 5 and Bradshaw Mountain April 7.

The girls' varsity team will match up against Joe City tomorrow at Williams High School with games beginning at 2 and 4 p.m.

"Joe City is the only loss we've had all season. We've had 12 wins and one loss and they have been, by far, our toughest opponents. Hopefully we'll be ready for them and we can pick up a win Thursday," Wells said.

The Lady Vikes, to date, have only played two regional games: Joe City and Ash Fork. The girls stand at 1 and 1 for the region.

"Joe City will be important. We will play Ash Fork again and then we will be playing St. Michaels." Wells said, adding that the St. Michaels game, originally slated for April 12 has been moved to April 16, with games beginning in Williams at noon and 2 p.m.


Donate Report a Typo Contact