Though the teams weren’t keeping score, Bradley softball dominated last weekend in a pair of exhibition games against Blackhawk Community College and Spoon River Community College. Head coach Amy Hayes estimated the Braves scored over 30 runs in both games combined while holding their opponents scoreless.
However, the goal of the games was not necessarily to win, but to get out and get used to playing again.
“We had only two days of team practice before,” Hayes said. “Right now, we’re just trying to see who can play where and feel us out a little bit … we knew there were going to be little mistakes maybe because there are new people playing, but we really didn’t have a whole lot of them.”
The Braves defense hardly had any chance to make mistakes. In the two games, Bradley pitchers faced 47 batters and struck out 19 of them while allowing only a pair of walks. They only allowed three combined hits in the shutout efforts.
“The pitching was so strong, so we didn’t get a whole lot of challenges, but when we did, we made the plays,” Hayes said.
The pitching dominance was highlighted by sophomore Julie Kestas, who struck out eight of the first nine batters she saw and did not allow a hit to any of the 15 batters she faced.
Hayes noted the quality of the opponents was inferior to their normal Missouri Valley Conference foes. Despite the lack of parity, it doesn’t take away from the positives the women demonstrated over the weekend.
“All in all, I think it was a really good outing for us,” Hayes said. “We were consistently pounding the ball throughout the game. We scored in almost every inning, which was one of our goals. One of our biggest things we were trying to work on was suring up our base running and staying aggressive.”
The Braves were certainly aggressive all afternoon as every Bradley starter collected a hit. Junior Maria Schroeder and freshman Allison Apke each notched home runs while the slap hitters at the top and bottom of the order combined to go 7-12.
The weekend action was the first experience of college softball for the freshman class. Hayes said she was impressed with the way they performed in the new environment.
“I just wanted them to play,” Hayes said. “You’re going to see some nerves. Freshman pitcher Emma Jackson came in for us and threw really well, and you saw some nerves from her, but she got the job done and threw really well. [The games were] for them to come in and see how they mesh.”
Hayes said the goal throughout the rest of the fall season is to improve on the team’s overall base running. She said the team is faster than year’s past, and paired with a solid hitting unit, it can maximize its run production with improved base running.
Bradley will continue their exhibition season Sunday Sept. 25 as they host a doubleheader against Heartland Community College.
