Yuma High School’s softball team keeps working on tightening up its defense.
“We’ve been focusing this past week on eliminating the errors,” coach Morgan Spencer said. “If we can get away from having an error after committing a first one, we could cut down on the big innings. I think we overthink it too much sometimes.”
The Indians carried one win into this week’s action after being swept by county rival Wray, 14-3 and 24-13, earlier last week.
Saturday’s doubleheader with Holyoke was rescheduled to October 5, so the Indians had a full week of practice before returning to action this past Tuesday at Burlington. They are home again Saturday when they host the Chase County (Nebraska) Longhorns for a 10 a.m. doubleheader.
“We could be pretty competitive if we can get our defense going,” Spencer said. “When you score 13 runs, you shouldn’t have to worry about not winning.”
The Tribe never really was in the opener against Wray, last week. The Eagles led 8-0 before Yuma finally scored in the bottom of the third inning. That run came courtesy of Ajanay Aragon reaching on a single, then scoring on Makenzie Weathers’ single.
Yuma scored two more in the fifth when Jazmin Sotelo and Aragon hit back-to-back singles. Both advanced on Tiemy Montes single, and Weathers drove both home with a double.
Weathers led the offense with a double, a single and driving in all three Yuma runs. The Indians had 10 hits. Sam Wells and Erin Allen both hit a double, Sotelo two singles and one run, Aragon two singles and two runs scored, and Montes and Jordan Glanz one single each. Sotelo took the pitching loss.
The Tribe gave itself chances in the nightcap, but just could not keep Wray from scoring in the 24-13 defeat. Yuma had 15 hits, but Wray rapped out 28.
The home girls jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, featuring a double by Wells and singles by Aragon, Montes and Weathers. Wray was shut out again in the second, but broke through with two in the third. Yuma answered with Aragon and Montes scoring for a 6-2 Yuma lead after three.
However, it then turned into slugfest.
Wray plated eight runs in the top of the fourth, but Yuma answered with four in the home half for a 10-10 tie. The rally included doubles by Sotelo and Aragon, with both scoring. Wells singled and scored, and Weathers also score.
Yuma just could not keep up, though, as Wray retook a 15-10 led in the fifth, while Yuma scored just one run, courtesy of Weathers. Wray then outscored the Tribe 9-2 over the last two innings, heading back east with the sweep.
Aragon had three hits, including a double, and scored three runs, Wells had a double among her two hits, and had two RBI and two runs, Weathers three hits and three runs, Sotelo a double among her two hits and two runs, Adahil Diaz a two-run single, Shannon Galloway a single and three RBI, Hannah Newton one run, and Allen one hit and one RBI. Montes took the pitching loss.
