Published: August 22, 2008 10:40 am         

That familiar feeling

Duncan gets back on track in 11-1 win over Lawton IKE

DUNCAN — It was the feel-good game that the Duncan softball team was looking for.

The Lady Demons invited Lawton Eisenhower over for a game of softball and, like good hostesses, sent them packing early in an 11-1 win. Duncan managed only six hits in the game but made each one count as four different players finished with at least four RBIs.

“We did a couple of different things offensively,” Duncan head coach Robert Cowan said. “We’re just trying to find something that works.

“It was good to play a game like this. Next week, we play Lawton High and Ardmore and, if we play well, we can win both those games and get on a pretty good run.”

Duncan gave Madison Pewitt the start in place of injured Judy Dines and the junior responded with a one-hitter in four innings of work. The right-hander did not strike anyone out, going with a democratic approach and letting her defense work behind her. The Lady Demons did well for the most part, committing only two errors, one of which was responsible for the only Lawton Ike run of the game.

“I was really comfortable out there,” Pewitt said. “I threw all summer and my dad and I have been coming up here at night and throwing. The defense helped a lot. We haven’t had as many errors lately and I was not afraid to throw it to them.”

Duncan spotted Pewitt with the 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, on no hits. Kinzie Kennedy and Caylin Lynch each reached base after getting hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Sarah Harper and Allison Edwards brought each of the runners in on groundouts to account for the lead.

The lead was extended to 6-0 in the second inning as Ike starter Jamie Ray loaded the bases without giving up a hit to set the table for Sarah Harper, who came inches away from creating a souvenier.

Ray began to get in trouble when she allowed an infield single to MacKenzie Gibbs, who would score on a wild pitch. The Lady Eagle hurler received no help from her defense as Ashley Perkins and Sadie Conran each reached on errrors. Ray compounded the problem by walking Kennedy to load the bases. A pop-up put Ike in position to end the inning but Harper would not allow it as she unloaded on a pitch and hit it to the top of the centerfield wall for a three-run double that made the score 6-0.

Ike put together a scoring threat in the third when an error with two outs allowed runners on second and third. Pewitt induced a mild pop-up to first baseman Lynch to get out of the inning unscathed. She would not be as fortunate in the fourth.

With one out, Shannon Myatt hit a double for the first and only Lady Eagle hit of the game. Pewitt picked up the second out of the inning on a pop-up but a throwing error on a ball put in play by Ray allowed Myatt to cross the plate to cut the deficit to 6-1.

Duncan closed the game out in the next inning with five runs. The key hits in the inning came on an RBI single by Edwards as well as a two-run single by Pewitt. Perkins also had a two-run basehit to finish the game off as the Lady Demons improved to 3-4 on the season.

Duncan will be off until next Tuesday when it hosts Lawton High. Dines, who missed the game with a leg injury, is expected to be back after a strong throwing session before Thursday night’s game.

“Pewitt did well tonight,” Cowan said. “We were really worried about Judy’s leg but she did not have a problem throwing today. The good thing for us is that Madison and Judy are both good pitchers and they throw differently.”

     

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