Tough Week for Lady Warriors

Despite the rough games, the Lady Warrior Softball team continues to impress the community

Kayleigh+Smeal+prepares+to+run+home+during+the+Juniata+Valley+game.

Image/Graphics by Cheri Cantolina

Kayleigh Smeal prepares to run home during the Juniata Valley game.

The Warriors had a tough week facing two tough opponents. West Branch played both of their games home. On Tuesday, May 3rd, the Warriors hosted a strike out cancer game to support anyone in the area who was or is struggling with cancer. They played the strike out cancer game against the Juniata Valley Hornets. Moving on in the week the Warriors played the Williamsburg Lady Pirates on Thursday, May 5th. 

On Tuesday, the Warriors faced a tough opponent. Earlier in the season, West Branch had fallen just short to the Hornets. The Lady Warriors started the game off slowly, continuously putting themselves in a hole to dig themselves out of. The beginning of the game didn’t start out well for the Warriors, when a Juniata Valley player hit a homerun in the first inning. West Branch was able to start a rally where Hannah Betts and Meghan Cantolina both got singles. Offensively, the Warriors collected 11 hits in the game. Madison Nelson, Greysyn Gable, Mallory Graham, and Meghan Cantolina led the Warriors, each of them having two hits in the game. Makenna Moore was the pitcher for the Warriors where she was able to strike out three and only allowed five hits. The Warriors took a hard loss to the Hornets to start off the week. The final score of the game was 12-9.

Later in the week, West Branch was home playing Williamsburg. Throughout the whole game the score was close. In the top of the sixth inning, the Warriors had the 4-3 lead. After West Branch had the lead, Williamsburg became active at the plate. Williamsburg was able to pull through to beat the Warriors. The final score of the game was 6-4, where West Branch took the loss. 

For the past two games, Head Coach Dan Betts said, “The team played hard both games and were in it until the end against two tough opponents, but we weren’t able to finish the comeback in either game. Losses are hard on players and coaches, but we have six games left and are still on the fringe of making the postseason. We have to learn from losses and move on to the next game.”

Next week the West Branch Lady Warrior Softball team is very busy. On Monday, they have a double header, home, against Harmony. Between these two games on Monday, this is also senior night for the two graduating seniors, Madison Nelson and Meghan Cantolina. On Tuesday, at home, the Warriors face Curwensville. On Wednesday, West Branch travels to Glendale and on Thursday Warriors play Bellwood at home. 

The Warriors now have a current overall record of 6-7.