Cougars Didn’t Get Where They are By Resting on Their Laurels

6 years ago
Cougars Didn’t Get Where They are By Resting on Their Laurels

May 2, 2018
Jeff Falk
No comments yet
FEATURE STORIES
822 Views

BY JEFF FALK

PALMYRA – Pleased, but not satisfied.

The Palmyra softball team has already invested a lot of hard work. But the Cougars still have more left to do.

On a clear Tuesday after-school at Palmyra High School, the Cougars showed that they’re not quite there yet, during a 5-0 loss to neighboring Lower Dauphin. Palmyra was playing catch-up all afternoon long, after the Falcons struck for a couple of first-inning runs.

The loss was Palmyra’s second straight, after ripping off a seven-game win streak. Still, the Cougars’ overall mark of 10-5 represents a 200 percent rate of improvement over last year.

Palmyra slipped to 7-3 in the Keystone Division of the Mid-Penn Conference, while Lower Dauphin jumped to 10-4 on the spring and 8-3 in the division. Back on April 5th in Hummelstown, the Cougars had defeated the Falcons 15-5.

The Cougars were situated 11th in the latest District Three Class AAAAA power rankings.

“The answer is ‘not yet’,” said Palmyra head coach Tod Whitman, when asked if the season could be considered a succeess. “I like the direction, but we need to validate what we have done so far. If the season ended right now, I’d feel really good about it. But it’s not over. It’s not a successful season yet. We want to win the day. What happened today goes away tomorrow.

“In the end, it’s one game,” Whitman continued. “This loss doesn’t make or break our season. Thursday (at division-leading Mechanicsburg) would be a great win. That’s the beauty of athletics. The losses tend to give you more information on what you need to work on.”

Yesterday, that appeared to be the Cougars’ hitting. But they were coming off a stretch where they has been seeing the ball very well from the batter’s box.

Against Lower Dauphin starter Paige Hollinger, Palmyra experienced difficulties stringing at-bats together and getting on base. Palmyra managed just two hits off the Falcons’ senior right-hander, both off the bat of five-hole hitter Sara Boyer – a one-out double in the bottom of the second inning and a one-out single in the seventh.

Hollinger, who struck out eight and walked one, retired the Cougars in order on four separate ocassions, the first, third, fifth and sixth innings.

The Cougars’s most serious threat against her came in the bottom of the fourth, when Rebecca Randall reached on an error and Boyer walked. But they came with two outs, and Hollinger doused the fire with a strikeout.

“Paige was good,” said Whitman of his side’s opponent. “We had to give her credit. We didn’t hit balls hard against her. We gave them a lot of easy outs. I think we hit two or three balls hard. Her speed was better than it was the first time we faced her. There were a couple of defensive blips, but it wasn’t the game. I felt pretty good about our defense.

“Our approach really didn’t change,” continued Whitman. “We tend not to panic. We’ve put up some runs this season. But it was apparent the third time through the lineup that we were struggling. That’s the mark of a good game. There wasn’t a blow-up inning. But we tried some different things to solve Paige.”

Palmyra starter Abbey Krahling actually did an admirable job of limiting damage during the Falcons’ two-run rally in the top of the first.

On two walks and a single, Lower Daphin loaded the bases with nobody out. Krahling yielded a two-run single to the next batter – Hollinger – but nothing else.

“When they got those two runs in the top of the first inning, we were struggling to figure out where the strike zone was,” said Whitman. “That’s usual. That’s every game It settled in, but the two walks in the first inning were uncharacteristic of Abbey. That really set the tone.”

The Falcons touched Krahling for an insurance run an at-bat later, to extend their lead to 3-0. Hannah Swartz registered the RBI for Lower Dauphin, after Krahling had retired the first two hitters in the second frame.

Krahling also went the distance, fanned six and issued three free passes.

“She wasn’t as strong as she has been,” said Whitman of Krahling. “But she was still pretty good. It wasn’t terrible. She battled out there. She’s been focused all year. But not her best stuff.”

The Falcons upped their advantage to 4-0 in the top of the fourth. It started with an error and a sacrifice, and concluded with Swartz’s two-out, RBI-single.

“We’re in the hunt to win the conference,” said Whitman. “I don’t know the last time they had that mindset around here. Our kids are talking about it. But we also recognize we have five games remaining.

“It’s kind of how the division is,” Whitman added. “This was a big game because it set the tone for the week. It’s (the division championship) still within our reach, but it would’ve been nice to get this one.”

The Falcons notched their final run in the top of the seventh. Hollinger’s long RBI-double was preceded by a Palmyra error.

“After the first Hershey game, it wa neat to see the team bounce back,” said Whitman. “We really put an emphasis on hitting this year. With the flag, the culture, the attitude, they (his players) moved on and they did some work. We got some confidence.

“It was a lot of hitting,” Whitman concluded. “That’s what these girls are trying to pride themselves on. We had a little bit of a letdown tonight. That’s how the season has gone. Momentum is a big thing.”

To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.

2018 Palmyra Softball Results

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	OUTCOMES
03/24 *	Bishop McDevitt	12:00 PM
04/05 *	@Lower Dauphin	4:15 PM	W 15-5
04/07	@Shippensburg	11:30 AM	L 6-10
04/09	Big Spring	4:15 PM	W 5-4
04/10 *	Mechanicsburg	4:15 PM	L 4-10
04/12 *	CD East	4:15 PM	W 4-0
04/14 *	Hershey	12:00 PM	L 1-2
04/17 *	@Harrisburg	4:15 PM	W 12-0
04/19 *	@Hershey	4:15 PM	W 6-0
04/21	Muhlenberg	12:00 PM	W 6-2
04/23 *	@Susquehanna Twp.	4:15 PM	W 8-1
04/24 *	@Bishop McDevitt	4:15 PM	W 4-1
04/26 *	Susquehanna Twp.	4:15 PM	W 7-1
04/28	@Annville-Cleona	9:00 AM	W 20-4
04/28	Twin Valley	4:00 PM	L 5-19
05/01 *	Lower Dauphin	4:15 PM	L 0-5

DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION
05/03 *	@Mechanicsburg	4:15 PM	Mechanicsburg High School
05/07	Middletown	4:15 PM	Palmyra High School
05/08 *	@CD East	4:15 PM	CD East High School
05/10 *	Harrisburg	4:15 PM	Palmyra High School

PIAA District Three

Class AAAAA Power Rankings

AAAAA	School	W	L	T	Rating	TWP	OWP	TWPW	OWPW	TWPL	OWPL
1	Solanco	13-	0-	0	0.781379	1.000000	0.514176	15.5	120.6	0.0	114.0
2	Donegal	15-	1-	0	0.756980	0.948795	0.522539	15.8	132.2	0.9	120.8
3	Twin Valley	9-	2-	0	0.739953	0.870445	0.580463	10.8	144.1	1.6	104.2
4	Daniel Boone	10-	3-	0	0.728604	0.831541	0.602793	11.6	140.3	2.4	92.5
5	Shippensburg	9-	2-	0	0.728412	0.866109	0.560116	10.4	135.1	1.6	106.1
6	Cedar Cliff	8-	3-	0	0.713704	0.813278	0.592002	9.8	124.4	2.3	85.7
7	Spring Grove	9-	4-	0	0.712476	0.776952	0.633673	10.5	161.7	3.0	93.5
8	Lampeter Strasburg	10-	3-	0	0.708817	0.814229	0.579980	10.3	147.8	2.4	107.0
9	Elizabethtown	8-	4-	0	0.689471	0.751938	0.613123	9.7	157.5	3.2	99.4
10	Mechanicsburg	10-	4-	0	0.665537	0.766667	0.541934	11.5	135.1	3.5	114.2
11	Palmyra	10-	4-	0	0.650800	0.765517	0.510590	11.1	124.2	3.4	119.0
12	Garden Spot	10-	6-	0	0.648991	0.713415	0.570251	11.7	141.9	4.7	106.9
13	Lower Dauphin	9-	5-	0	0.640951	0.700000	0.568779	10.2	128.8	4.4	97.7
14	Northeastern	8-	4-	0	0.632763	0.736000	0.506584	9.2	123.1	3.3	119.9
15	Manheim Central	8-	5-	0	0.616589	0.658635	0.565200	8.2	139.4	4.3	107.2
16	Northern York	8-	4-	0	0.600673	0.692308	0.488675	8.1	114.4	3.6	119.7
17	New Oxford	7-	6-	0	0.595561	0.620553	0.565015	7.9	145.4	4.8	111.9
18	Susquehannock	5-	5-	0	0.560810	0.570707	0.548715	5.7	127.0	4.3	104.5
19	Greencastle Antrim	6-	9-	0	0.544711	0.459364	0.649023	6.5	166.2	7.7	89.9
20	Cocalico	7-	6-	0	0.540206	0.562753	0.512648	7.0	125.7	5.4	119.5
21	South Western	5-	10-	0	0.522652	0.415162	0.654028	5.8	166.5	8.1	88.1
22	Big Spring	5-	9-	0	0.521711	0.411538	0.656367	5.4	166.8	7.7	87.3
23	Governor Mifflin	5-	10-	0	0.506929	0.420495	0.612571	6.0	172.5	8.2	109.1
24	Hershey	5-	9-	0	0.469914	0.417857	0.533538	5.9	138.8	8.2	121.4
25	Muhlenberg	4-	8-	0	0.435434	0.373913	0.510626	4.3	127.4	7.2	122.1
26	Red Land	2-	10-	0	0.422288	0.235294	0.650837	2.4	155.6	7.8	83.5
27	Gettysburg	4-	9-	0	0.421526	0.345992	0.513846	4.1	131.8	7.8	124.7
28	Ephrata	2-	12-	0	0.398440	0.200000	0.640977	2.4	170.5	9.6	95.5
29	Lebanon	2-	12-	0	0.356189	0.196721	0.551094	2.4	144.8	9.8	118.0
30	Dover	1-	12-	0	0.318591	0.094170	0.592883	1.1	140.0	10.1	96.1
31	Conrad Weiser	2-	11-	0	0.304021	0.171206	0.466351	2.2	123.0	10.7	140.8
32	Milton Hershey	1-	9-	0	0.280231	0.121359	0.474408	1.3	93.2	9.1	103.2
33	Harrisburg	0-	12-	0	0.241473	0.000000	0.536606	0.0	126.8	10.5	109.5