Lady Cardinals fall in league play

By Michael Selecky
VIEW Sports Writer

FLINT — After nailing down their first win of the season on April 28 against Grand Blanc, Davison looked to parlay that result into something more when they traveled to Kearsley Monday.
Unfortunately for the Lady Cardinals, Kearsley is amidst an incredibly impressive season, currently standing at 17-8 overall, 8-2 conference.
Davison eventually got edged, 6-5, after going into the bottom of the seventh with a 5-3 lead. Abby Adams was 2-3 with two runs and Tori Babcock chipped in with two RBI. Mercedes McFall took the decision for the Lady Cardinals, giving up eight hits and a walk with one strikeout.
“Overall, we played quite well in this game. We were definitely in control from the beginning, and kept challenging to keep up with the pace,” said coach Amy Quayle. “The game was a battle until the end but unfortunately the ball didn’t fall our way.”
In game two, the Lady Cardinals were not able to recover from the first loss and were shut out, 10-0. Lisa Price started the game giving up three runs on four hits before getting pulled in the first inning. McFall took the circle from there, allowing six runs, five of which were earned, on nine hits with two strikeouts.
Last Saturday, Davison competed in the Midland Tournament, going 1-2 for the event.
In the first game, the Lady Cardinals lost to Bullock Creek, 10-0, as Price got the complete game decision, allowing all 10 runs, six of which were earned, with one walk and six strikeouts. At the plate, Sam White managed one hit.
Davison then played their second contest against Traverse City Central, winning, 11-1, for the team’s second victory of the season. For the offense, Bailey Patterson went 1-4 with two runs, one RBI and three steals and Kaleigh Gritzinger was 2-3 with two RBI, one run and two steals. In the circle, McFall got the win for the Lady Cardinals, allowing one run, zero earned, on one walk with five strikeouts.
“Overall, we played really well in this game, which allowed us to roll that momentum into the tournaments final match-up,” said Quayle. “Although the score doesn’t reflect it, defensively we worked extremely hard, made very few errors and communicated extremely well.”
In game three, the Lady Cardinals faced Midland, losing, 12-4. Taking the decision for Davison was McFall, who allowed all 12 runs, seven earned, with four strikeouts. Offensively, Rubio had a double and an RBI in three at bats, Ally Hrabec went 1-3, including a hit to start the team’s fifth inning rally, and Abby Adams added a double and an RBI in four at bats.
“In the fifth we came back from a six-run deficit and scored four runs to head into the sixth down, 6-4,” Quayle said. “Midland scored one in the sixth and in the seventh we just gave up too many runs while struggling with the bat. We’re truly coming around and I see so much improvement in the girls every day, whether it be regarding communication or decision making.”
Last Thursday, the Lady Cardinals hosted Powers, losing game one, 8-1, and game two, 11-1. Topping the charts for the Lady Cardinals in the first game was Adams at 2-3 and White was 1-4. Price took the loss, giving up seven earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts.
“The major difference in the game was Powers hit the living daylights out of the ball. The errors we committed also helped to shift the momentum in their direction,” said Quayle. “We played tough for the first six innings but in the seventh Powers really began to hit the ball in the gaps.”
In the second contest, Adams went 3-3 with a double and two RBI to lead the team. McFall gave up three earned runs with four walks and a strikeout to get the defeat.
“Overall, we had a breakdown in communication in both games, which definitely contributed to the mental mistakes we made in the field,” Quayle said. “Powers also hit the ball really well and, even though we had some hits, we struggled to string them together.”
Davison is 2-19 overall and 1-9 Big Nine. They play at Carman-Ainsworth today.