At the Half: 5-0 and rolling!

v Noble: 10-0
v Trask: 2-1
v Williston: 11-1
v Roland-Grise: 9-1
v Murray: 6-0
________________
38 - 3

Picture: Morgan Tilley gets ready to steal 2nd.


Picture to the left: Samantha, Morgan T, Morgan M, Amanda and Eva pack it up after another win in the Gator blue home uniforms.

Game Five: Thursday, September 29 - MGMS at Murray

Okay, the truth is, we gotta beat 'em. Gotta get 'em now, gotta get 'em at their house.

So what do these Lady Gators do? Got 'em, and got 'em at their house.

While Karly Pierce of Murray did a good job of shutting Gator bats through the first two innings, you can't keep 'em down too much for too long. RBI machine Kelsey Hopper continued her streak, (surely she has some kind of streak for consecutive games with RBI's, doesn't she coach?) of making the big hit with Gators on base when they need it most.

After the 3rd inning, the Gators were up 2-0, after the 4th, 3-0; after the 5th, 5-0; and after the 6th, 6-0. Murray got some baserunners on, but stellar defense made short work of the Murray batting opportunities, and the Gators ended up with a 6-0 win.

Okay girls, you've been through the first rotation of the season undefeated (with the exception of Virgo), how do you feel? Now it's time to buckle down and put the championship away. You've shown you can do it, so keep it up!

Picture: Kelsey prepares to hit.

Neat stats:

Hitting
Kelsey went 3-3 with 2 singles and a double, a run and 2 RBI's Michel scored two runs. Samantha's discipline at the plate helped her get a big run for the Gators in the 4th inning.
Very efficient hitting, scoring 6 runs on 7 hits.

Team bats a collective .259.

Defense
Katie Foy had a part in 7 outs, with 6 assists and 1 unassisted; and Carly and Amanda teamed for a game-ending double play,

Carly had 9 put outs at 1st base.

**********

WP - Amanda White. Kelsey again had no passed balls. She finishes the first half of the season with no passed balls.

Score 6-0 Record: 5-0

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Game Four: Tuesday, September 27 - MGMS at Roland-Grise

It was another team effort (are we getting a bit repetitive here?) where offense and defense played equal parts in a 9-1 win over the Roland-Grise Lady Knights.

With the bats starting out giving the Lady Gators a 2-0 lead in the 1st, the Lady Knights were not able to get a base runner until the 3rd inning, when oh my, Amanda's sister, Ashley gets on base. Amanda, how could you? Fo Sho Sho....

Morgan Montgomery relieved Amanda in the 5th inning, and pitched 2 scoreless innings closing the game in her first appearance for Myrtle Grove.

Everyone got to play in this game, and we saw Dallas get up to bat for the first time this season! Whoo hoo, YEA! Fo Sho Sho...

Picture: Morgan pitches to Kelsey while Savanna, Amanda and Samantha wait for the result.

Neat Stats:

Hitting
Katie Foy continued her hot hitting ways, and Eva got a hit in only her 2nd time at bat to guide the Lady Gators to a 12-2 win over the Lady Knights. Savanna went 2-4, and Samantha got on base each time at bat, going on to score 1 run.
Katie topped the scoring with 4 runs, and a 1.000 batting and on base percentage for the game.
Team bats a collective .308.

Defense
Morgan Montgomery relieved Amanda in the fifth inning. Together, they combined to give up only 3 hits, and allowing no earned runs. Carly had 7 put outs at 1st base.

**********

WP - Amanda White; Save - Morgan Montgomery
Kelsey again had no passed balls. One pick off.

Score: 12-1 Record: 4-0

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Game Three: Thursday, September 22 - MGMS at Williston

Myrtle Grove used its bats to do its talking in this game, as every batter that made a plate appearance made it to first base. As Coach Williams said several times, "Batter, the bases are juiced, this is your time!", and most of the time, the batter delivered either a hit, an RBI, or the patience to take a walk (and get an RBI!).

A couple of errors in the field couldn't get the girls or the coaches down as they would regroup and get out of just about every "pinch" they got themselves into. The defense picked the pitching up, and the offense picked the defense up. All in all, another TOTAL FAMILY EFFORT! Congrats girls!

Picture above: Coach Williams talks with Allison S. before her time at bat.
Picture to the left: Allison D. hits one to right field.

Neat Stats:

Hitting
Allison S got a hit in only her 2nd time at bat, and scored one of the 11 runs by MG in a well executed game by the Lady Gators at Williston.
Morgan Tilley went 1-1, and Morgan Montgomery went 2-4 leading the offense, which was really "on" today.

The offense was so hot, that even with 11 runs, they left 6 baseruuners in scoring position on base.

Team bats a collective .304.

Picture: Eva steals 2nd.

Defense
Morgan Montgomery also contributed with the glove, getting three assists at 3rd and also combining with Kelsey to throw the runner out at 3rd in the 1st inning. Carly had 7 put outs at 1st base.

**********

WP - Amanda White
Kelsey again had no passed balls.

Score: 11-1 Record: 3-0

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Game Two: Tuesday, September 20 - Trask at MGMS

Most folks who are interested in Middle School softball this year, would have probably wagered that Trask Middle School was the favorite to take the county championship in 2005. With a team with lots of 8th graders that play travel ball, and some strong travel ball playing 7th graders, (much like Myrtle Grove in 2004), it was probably not a bad bet. But as we all know, games must be played, and anything can happen.

What happened was an extremely well-played game, with Myrtle Grove's defense stepping up time after time to shut down Trask to only 1 run. What happened was that Myrtle Grove was able to have the top of the lineup start the 6th inning (last inning), and create the winning run.

What happened was a tough, tough, game for both teams, with Myrtle Grove coming out on top 2-1, THIS TIME.

What happened was a TOTAL TEAM EFFORT, with every player contributing to the win in some way! Way to come together girls! Congrats girls on a well-played, gritty, determined WIN! 2-0 and counting!

Picture: Katie gets ready to hit one HARD!

Neat Stats:

Hitting
Bats were kept relatively quiet until the last inning when Katie and Amanda made good contact to get on base and Kelsey got the first of her many RBI's to win the game in the bottom of the 6th.

Team bats a collective .211.

Defense
Lots of excellent defense held Trask to just one run. Twice the defense tightened up to hold Trask from scoring with two runners on.

Katie and Morgan M turned a DP in the 5th with 2 runners on and 1 out.

**********

WP - Amanda White
Kelsey again had no passed balls or stolen bases against her.

Score: 2-1 Record: 2-0

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Hurricane Ophelia Interrupts Softball Season

Hurricane Ophelia, while not anything like Hurricane Katrina, still closed schools for three days, and caused postponement of one game. However, Myrtle Grove lost their precious "bye" game, which means they'll have games every Tuesday and Thursday without fail until end of October.

Game One: Thursday, September 8 - MGMS at Noble

Myrtle Grove started the season playing a very young, and inexperienced Noble MS team away from home.

Myrtle Grove was able to take advantage ofNoble's infield and outfield errors to eventually close the game with a 16-0 win.

Way to start the season girls! 1-0 and counting!

Pictures: Kelsey catching, and Amanda pitching.

Neat Stats:

Hitting
Katie Foy, Savanna Allen and Allison Dubronillet all hit .500 in the first game of the season at Noble.

Samantha T reached base 2 times and scored once. Katie and Allison D. also had On Base % (OBP) of 1.00.

MG team bats a collective .200.

Defense
The battery of Amanda White and Kelsey Hopper broke the school record for strikeouts in their first game as a pitcher / catcher tandem with 14.

**********

WP - Amanda White
Kelsey had no passed balls, or stolen bases against her.

Score: 16-0 Record: 1-0

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Myrtle Grove MS Tryouts 2005

Tryouts were supposed to start two days prior to first day of school with "Pressure free tryout warm-ups." However, the weather didn't cooperate, and tryouts began on August 25th and ended on the 26th. After Friday's tryout, Coach Williams told the girls that the team selection would be posted over the weekend, so practice could start on Monday.

Coach Williams posted the new team roster at the school on Friday night. The 2005 Lady Gators, tasked with defending the County championship the 2004 team won, is made up of only three returning 8th graders. The team makeup: 5 eighth graders (of which 3 return from last year) and 8 seventh graders.

The 2005 Lady Gators are: (In alphabetical order by grade)

Coaches
Coach Williams
Coach Taylor
Coach Reid

Players
8th graders
Dallas
Eva
Katie
Kelsey
Morgan T

7th graders
Allison D
Allison S
Amanda
Carly
Michel
Morgan M
Samantha
Savanna

Managers
Crystal
McKenzie

Answer to trivia question at the beginning of the blog:
Murray Middle School, in the last game of the season.