Softball drops doubleheader against Brewton Parker

Freshman outfielder Whitney Okvist of the Georgia College softball team has had the same, simple mentality every time she approaches the plate for each at bat: find a way to get a hit.

That mindset was learned during Okvist’s travel ball days while playing with the Vipers for coach Jessica Seamon.

“She (Seamon) instilled that mentality in me, and it’s something I’ve been doing ever since,” Okvist said.

That method paid off for Okvist, who went a combined four for six at the plate with three runs scored in the Bobcats’ season opening games against Brewton Parker College.

Manoj Kuninci | gcsunade.com

Freshman outfielder Whitney Okvist slides into home safely as on deck batter Anna Parker looks on.

The Bobcats (0-2, 0-0 PBC) dropped their season opener to the Brewton Parker College Barons in both games of the slated double header, 4-3 and 7-1 on Feb. 9.

Game one took extra innings to decide the outcome.

The Bobcats trailed 2-1 for most of the contest as both teams threatened but could not plate a run from the second through fifth innings.

Junior Bobcat catcher Anna Parker led off the bottom of the sixth with a towering homerun, hooking just fair of the left field foul pole.

With the score even at 2-2, the Bobcats would load the bases in the bottom of the sixth with one out.

Baron hurler Crystal Chesser was able to avoid further damage, striking out Bobcat freshman pinch hitter Lindsey Conway and forcing freshman Alex Duvall into a fly out to left to end the inning.

The Barons quickly got on the board in the seventh, forcing the Bobcats into a last at bat situation.

Down 3-2, Georgia College was able to answer in the bottom half of the frame.

Okvist led off with a single and later advanced to third on a Haley Burnett infield single.

Junior Maggie Davis plated Okvist with a sacrifice fly to right field, deadlocking the game at 3-3.

In extra innings, both teams would start with a runner at second base, as stated by the international tiebreaker rule.

The reasoning is to speed up gameplay and allow both teams with even chances to score a run.

The Barons struck back in the top of the eighth on a double by Chesser, who drove in teammate Ashley Wooton.

Georgia College would not score in the bottom half, sealing the victory for the Barons in game one.

The Bobcats left 10 runners on base in the first game.

Head coach Jamie Grodecki said the team played well in spurts, but has to have a full effort to be successful.

“We had a lot of fight in game one,” Grodecki said. “We just need to focus on winning every inning of play in order to win the overall ball game.”

Junior pitcher Haley Burnett fired eight strong innings of work in the defeat, allowing four runs, three of which were earned, while scattering four hits. Burnett agrees with her coach as the Bobcats move forward in the early season.

“We still have a lot to work on,” Burnett said. “We have to work on our hitting as well as bringing everyone together as a team.”

In game two, mental lapses and a lack of fundamental defense plagued Georgia College, as Brewton Parker won game two, 7-1.

The Bobcat defense accounted for five errors. Only four of the seven Baron runs were earned in game two.

The lone run for the Bobcats came in bottom of the third when Okvist scored on a throwing error by the Barons.

The Barons scored six unanswered runs to end the game. The Bobcats left five runners on base in game two and a total 15 in both matches.

“There is a lot we have to work on,” Grodecki said. “We had some really good approaches in both games, but we have to put it all together to have a consistent game.”

Georgia College returns to action this weekend, traveling to Queens, N.C. on Feb. 11 for a 2 and 4 p.m. twin bill.

The Bobcats play at Catawba on Feb. 12 and continue the road trip at West Georgia on Feb. 14.

The Bobcats return home on Feb. 15 to face Young Harris for a double header starting at 2 p.m.

Okvist knows the importance of the coming days for the team.

“We have a big road trip coming up,” Okvist said. “We have to play the whole game through and hopefully we will see good results.”

Posted by Chandler Lee on Feb 10 2011. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.