East Webster softball head coach Lee Berryhill might not have been thrilled with the first few games of the year but the coach has bigger aspirations in mind.
It’s hard to find something to be upset about in the first three games. EWHS beat Winona, Choctaw County and Houlka by a combined score of 40-5. The Lady Wolverines have come out on fire in the circle and defensively but even with 40 runs put on the scoreboard this week, Berryhill wants more from his players.
Namely after the Houlka game on Friday night when the bats went quiet. The Lady Wolverines had a four-run inning in the fifth, but they were otherwise struggling and didn’t have many hard hit balls. Through the struggles offensively, however, was sophomore pitcher Lizz Massey. She ran through Houlka’s order and worked out of a little trouble in a couple of innings to preserve the 5-0 win.
“Everything was just kind of flat. It was cold, not a lot of energy and nothing was getting done,” Berryhill said. “A lot of it is the cold weather and we just didn’t want to swing it. Give Lizz credit, she did a good job and when she had to she got it done with a little bit of help.”
Massey was flat out dominant in the first three games of the year. She finished with 14.0 innings pitched with seven hits surrendered, zero earned runs, eight walks and 25 strikeouts. All of that was without having played a full seven innings in two of the games.
She started it in a 17-0 win over Winona and then duplicated a big day by doing it against Choctaw County on Thursday. She totaled 7.0 innings in those games, gave up two hits, one unearned run, three walks and 13 strikeouts.
“She’s a three-year starter and only a 10th grader,” Berryhill said. “The first two years she started we made it to the playoffs and she’s got games under her belts. She’s growing still and will only get better and better.”
As far as hitting is concerned early, Marli Brewer is slugging for the Lady Wolverines (3-0). The sophomore has six hits and a .667 batting average in the first three games with 11 RBI and a double. Emma and Coy Jennings and Whitney Winter all have five hits on the year with Emma second on the team with eight RBI and she also has a double, triple and home run.
Weather could mess with the schedule that the Lady Wolverines have planned this week. They already had a rematch with Choctaw County cancelled on Monday and they had a game scheduled at home with Winona on Tuesday. They also are expected to host French Camp Academy and Wheeler Friday afternoon beginning at 4 p.m.
