Lineup shuffle works for M-G softball team

By Mike Beas

May 06, 2008 12:02 am

— FRANKTON — Like most high school softball coaches, Madison-Grant’s Jay Dunlap has been in situations where both ends of a pencil came in handy.
Case in point: Monday’s crucial Central Indiana Conference game at Frankton.
With Argylls leadoff hitter Kendra Stitt out because of strep throat, Dunlap moved sophomore Shelby Wells, normally M-G’s No. 2 hitter, to the top of the order. Senior third baseman Chelsie Morrical, who usually bats eighth slid into the second spot.
Wells responded with three singles and Morrical had one to help lead the Argylls to an 8-4 victory.
“We scored eight runs against a very good Frankton team and our Nos. 5 and 6 hitters didn’t have a hit,” said Dunlap, whose squad, ranked ninth in Class 2A, improves to 4-1 in league play and 15-3 overall.
Explaining Morrical’s significant leap toward the top of the Madison-Grant batting order, he said, “Chelsie is a very confident person with the bat. She’s a very good bunter.”
Laughing, Dunlap added, “She asked me before the game why she was hitting second and told her it was for her bunting and she said, ‘OK.’ ”
The Argylls’ starting second baseman, Wells made her presence felt in M-G’s breakthrough inning, a four-run sixth that provided starting pitcher Sara Webster more than enough breathing room.
With the game knotted at 4-4, freshman left fielder Cortney Stephens got things started with a single before advancing to second on a sacrifice from No. 9 hitter Keshia Head.
Wells then delivered a single to left, moving Stephens to third. The freshman came home on Samantha Fields’ single to shallow center field, and senior first baseman Cady Riggs provided the knockout punch with a single to right.
Webster, who gave up five hits in the first three innings, settled in and permitted only two the rest of the way. The junior walked one and struck out 10.
“Sara, as the game progresses, gets stronger and stronger and stronger,” said Dunlap. “And I was proud of the way the kids kept coming back. They never get down on themselves, and that’s just the character of our dugout.”
The Argylls finished with 12 hits off Frankton junior Sami Green. Fields and Riggs, M-G’s Nos. 3 and 4 hitters, respectively, both finished with three hits.
For Frankton (11-7, 4-1), which returns to CIC action Friday at Eastbrook, received two hits apiece from freshman leadoff hitter Allison Parr, No. 2 hitter Brittany Lawler and cleanup hitter Lexi Seager. Parr came through with a fifth-inning triple and Lawler a third-inning double to account for the Eagles’ extra-base hits.
“Webster is a good pitcher and I thought she pitched real well,” said Frankton coach Jeremy Parker. “Green pitched a great game, but she didn’t play good defense. But we left people on base, so it wasn’t just our defense.”
Next up for Madison-Grant is a Wednesday home date with Eastbrook scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Thursday, Frankton hosts Wapahani at 4:30 p.m.