Softball gets underway in sunshine state but offense stalls in pair of losses
Leesburg, FL-- The MCLA Softball team was eager to start their 2022 season. It was the first Florida trip since 2019 as the previous trips were hampered by the pandemic. The Trailblazers could not muster up enough offense however as they fell to St. Joseph's (ME) 10-2 in the opener before losing to Berea 8-0 in the nightcap.
MCLA vs. St. Joseph's (ME)
MCLA fell behind early in this one as the Monks jumped ahead 4-0 through two innings against Trailblazer starter Sarah Williams. The Trailblazers would slice the deficit in half in the third though as a Monk miscue led to a run while Sydney Matthews brought home another with a squeeze bunt to cut it to 4-2.
The Trailblazers had trouble slowing the Monks offense however as they produced a single tally in the third before putting up three more in the fourth and closing the game out with two in the fifth inning.
Williams absorbed the loss off the mound for MCLA as she went the distance in her season debut. The Monks outhit MCLA 14-3.
MCLA vs. Berea
Game two was all about Berea's Madison McIntosh. The right hander tossed a perfect game as she faced just 15 hitters and struck out 8 Trailblazers. She closed the game out in style with another punchout to cinch the perfect game.
Berea's offense started fast scoring three times in the first against MCLA's Avianna Ibrahim. The first year hurler for MCLA would settle down a bit however and toss a scoreless second and third inning before she ran into more trouble in the fourth.
Berea chased Ibrahim by scoring five more runs during the key inning. MCLA's Lidia Flores entered in relief and was effective. She tossed the final two innings and didn't allow a hit.
MCLA is back in action tomorrow when they challenge Mount Mary at 9am and Minnesota-Morris at 1:30pm.