he Elizabethtown College softball team gave it all they had during their away game at Gettysburg College Thursday April, 4. Unfortunately, the team also tallied a tough loss in their home game against Alvernia University on Saturday, April 6.
The Gettysburg game was on a chilly day with temperatures in the 40s, but that didn’t bring down the team’s motivation. The first three innings produced no runs for either team, but excitement began to mount at the top of the fourth. That’s when senior Elly McCarthy doubled to left field, advancing sophomore Jessica White to third, and seniors Lindsey Cooper and Courtney Comstock both scored.
Following that, still at the top of the fourth, sophomore Kaylee Werner singled to center field and advanced to second on the throw. Then both McCarthy and White scored, extending the Jyas’ lead.
Gettysburg was able to put up two runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Etown continued to hold on to their lead by two runs. At the top of the fifth, Etown gained another two runs. Senior Whitney Breneman doubled to left center right before Comstock scored. Due to an illegal pitch, McCarthy advanced to second and Cooper to third, allowing Breneman to score Etown’s sixth run. The bottom of the fifth was when Gettysburg earned their third, fourth and fifth runs.
Neither the Blue Jays nor the Bullets scored in the final two innings of the game, resulting in the final run count at 5-6.
First-year Madison Teefy, said about the game, “The team has a lot of spirit. That’s one thing that definitely shined through. There were definitely times when it wasn’t clear that Etown was going to win, but I’m glad they did — the team seems to be working hard this year and I think they deserve it.”
Etown’s game against Alvernia was a more challenging one for the team. According to first-year Keli Krause: “[Alvernia] was the best team we have played. We just couldn’t produce any runs to win the games.”
Alvernia scored their first two runs at the top of the third inning. At the top of the fourth, Rachel Fritz from Alvernia scored another run for them putting the score at 3-0.
The top of the sixth is what brought Alvernia up to nine runs. Fritz scored the fourth, while Shannon Grim and Aly Shilling brought their team up to their seventh run. Amanda Galanti scored the team’s eighth point and Danielle Kitchen got the team their ninth and final run of that game.
Etown scored a few runs during the second game of the double header but were unable to pull off a win. The bottom of the sixth started well when Comstock hit a single. Breneman was up to bat, but Alvernia’s starter Brittanie Wolfe got White to ground the ball to third, forcing an out.
Alvernia has earned the reputation of being not only notoriously talented, but the top team in the Commonwealth Conference as well. It was no surprise that the game was a tough one, but the Jays were disappointed all the same.
On April 10, the Blue Jays traveled to Center Valley, Pa. to face the DeSales Bulldogs in a double header.
