Wildcats split with Pacific, look to win in Florida

Camille Botello, Staff Writer / Online Productions

The Pacific Boxers played the Wildcats at Del Smith Stadium last weekend.

In game one, Pacific committed three early errors but were about to capitalize on their scoring opportunities in the fourth inning. The Wildcats were taken aback by the pitching of Pacific’s Ashley Martin.

Shelby Saylors, ‘19, struck out one batter in the first game against the Pacific Boxers. Darian Stedman, ‘19, had two hits for the ‘Cats, Jacida Swiger, ‘18, Cheyenne Fletcher, ‘18, and Kenzie Schmoll, ‘17, each had one base hit.

“We came out pretty flat in the first game and didn’t do well at making adjustments,” Fletcher said.

Game one ended with a Boxer victory, 3-1.

Brooke Chapman, ‘17, started in the circle for the Wildcats in game two, and only allowed one run to score off Pacific’s seven base hits.

Linfield put up three runs in the third inning to take the lead over Pacific, largely contributed to the two home runs hit by Fletcher and Emily Allen, ‘18. An RBI double by Allen in the sixth inning scored Linfield’s final run of the day.

“We have a solid group of hitters and multiple people who we can count on to get the job done if one of needs to be subbed out,” Fletcher stated.

In game two Allen went 3 for 3, Fletcher went 3 for 4, and Alissa Buss, ‘17, went 2 for 3.

The ‘Cats split with Pacific by winning the second game, 3-1. “I think the biggest difference was our energy level and level of play. The second game we were more aggressive and didn’t take them lightly,” Fletcher said.

Junior powerhouse Cheyenne Fletcher has been named the North West Conference’s student athlete of the week for the third consecutive week after her performance against Pacific. “When I’m up to bat I try to just think ‘See the ball.’ If I’m seeing the ball well I don’t need to guess where the next pitch is going to be, I can just react and I think that makes a huge difference,” Fletcher revealed.

Linfield softball is going to Clermont, Florida for their next 8-game tournament as participants in the Spring Games.