Panthers down Demon softball

After falling in four of their previous five games, the Mt. Pleasant softball team came out ready to right the ship on Tuesday night.

A seven-run second inning from the Panthers set the tone early in the conference doubleheader against Washington, as Mt. Pleasant (12-10, 5-5 in conference play) swept the Demons (2-19, 0-10 in conference play) 13-4 and 15-1 to push themselves back over .500.

?It?s always huge when you can score early,? Mt. Pleasant softball head coach Troy Mears said. ?Scoring a lot of runs helps to take a little pressure off the defense. I don?t like how we quit scoring there at the end. When we get into close games later on in the year, we have to keep the firepower on. We did that in the second game.?

The Panthers were led offensively by Sarah Moffett, who drove in five runs on 4-of-8 batting on the night, including a two-run homerun in Game 1, her third round-tripper of the season.

?She?s been staying crouched down and seeing the ball really well,? Mears said. ?She?s a really strong girl and when she keeps her nose in the zone, she does well.?

For the Demons, who lost their eighth straight game, the biggest bright spot came from freshman Morgan Brinning, who batted a combined 5-for-7 on the night, including the first homerun of her varsity career in Game 2.

Brinning leads the team with a .433 batting average on the year.

?She?s hitting the ball extremely well,? Washington head coach Angie Shrader said. ?It was a solid hit and right off the bat, you knew it was gone.?

Despite the tough stretch for the Demons, Brinning has been able to be an example on the field for the Demons, and it can be seen in the way the rest of her teammates play.

?I love the effort she puts right out on the field,? Shrader said. ?She?s always diving for balls, and that?s one thing I?ve seen from our young kids, is that they aren?t afraid to get dirty and dive. They might not always get it, but everyone is going for the ball.?

Game 1 got started with a leadoff walk to Allison Buckert, who came around to score on an RBI single from Jackie Fraise.

The Panthers were shut down for the rest of the first, but couldn?t be held back in the second, with an error, two walks and four hits, including Moffett?s two-run homerun, plating seven in the inning.

After a Demon pitching change, the Panthers struggled offensively for the next couple of innings, and Washington started to take advantage of it.

An RBI single from Haylee Wilson in the fourth scored Brinning, and Wilson came around to score on an error, as Washington got on the board.

In the fifth, an RBI double from Brinning scored Taylor Dicks, to cut the deficit to 8-3.

In the top of the sixth, Mt. Pleasant got two runs back, as Moffett, who scored on a passed ball, knocked an RBI single to drive in Fraise.

The Demons responded in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI-double from Kayla Andrew, but it wasn?t enough as the Demons fell.

?You can?t give up walks and put people on base,? Shrader said. ?Then you have to put the ball across the middle of the plate, and they are good enough hitters that they can find some holes. We outscored them in four of the seven innings, but when you put yourself in that big of a hole, it?s hard to climb your way out.?

In Game 2, the Panthers picked up where they left off, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning, with Fraise and Moffett each earning RBI hits.

In the bottom of the first, Brinning got into a pitch, clearing it over the left field fence to put the Demons on the board, but a strong pitching performance from Mt. Pleasant?s Cali Liechty only allowed the Demons to pick up two more hits in the contest.

Five runs in the third and sixth inning helped the Panthers go up 15-1 and end the game early, as the Demons fell in six innings.

?(The morale) should be up,? Mears said. ?We?ve been in a little bit of a slump lately, losing more than we?ve won in the last week and a half, so this should be a good morale builder. We have a tough rest of the week, so it doesn?t get any easier.?

For the Demons, who are in the midst of another tough losing streak, they are left looking for answers to help them right the ship.

?We have moments and glimpses,? Shrader said. ?We are trying to change the mindset, and it?s hard to do, because this is something that has never happened in Demon softball. These kids don?t need to get used to it. We need to get a win.?

Mt. Pleasant and Washington are both scheduled to play games on Wednesday, with the Panthers traveling to New London and the Demons heading to Mid-Prairie.