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The Columbus Lady Cardinals welcomed the Rice Lady Raiders on Tuesday night for a district softball game.
The Lady Cards defeated the Lady Raiders by a score of 14-0 and in a weird twist this game was beneficial for both teams.
Lady Cards
It’s pretty easy to see why this game was beneficial for the Lady Cards, they won. What more needs to be said.
Well, it’s not quite that simple, so let’s give credit where credit is due starting with pitcher Peyton Drozd who threw a perfect game Tuesday night. Drozd pitched all five innings for the Lady Cards and gave up zero runs on zero hits while striking out six batters.
She faced 15 betters and threw 66 pitches, 44 of which were called strikes for a 72% strike rate.
Offensively the Lady Cards Drozd shined just as bright as she hit two doubles in Tuesday’s win. Ellie Brown also hit two doubles and teammate Molly Garcia hit one double.
Mia Post hit the lone triple in the game right before Abigail Wiggs stepped up to the plate to hit the only home run in the game.
The Lady Cards continue to stack wins up in their district schedule and have their eyes now set on a deep playoff run.
Lady Raiders
The Lady Raiders also benefitted from this game, believe it or not. It’s a little outlandish to say that after a 14-0 loss to a cross-county rival but for a team still working to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, they learned a very valuable lesson.
At the start of the game, it was only 5-0 heading into the third inning and the Lady Raiders were playing one of their best games up to that point. The problem was they lost their confidence and things unraveled from there.
There were some errors like dropping fly balls or missing routine throws that led to the Lady Cards getting extra bases on infield ground balls. It started to take its toll on the players and watching the game it was noticeable when the Lady Raiders lost their confidence.
For most of that game the Lady Raiders hung in there with the Lady Cards too so that is a sign that they are still doing all the right things to get better, but once their confidence dropped their fate was sealed. The players have improved this season, the stats have improved this season, and the only thing really left for the Lady Raiders now is to stop dwelling on the negative plays.
Negative plays are going to happen, stay strong, trust each other and find a way to bounce back. It’s a harsh lesson to learn but every team has to learn it before ascending to the goals they want to achieve.
The Lady Cards will be back in action on Monday, April 21, when they take on Shiner, the Lady Raiders will have their season wrapped up by that time.
