Costly errors prove too much for Sikeston to handle

Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Sikeston runner Kayla Fodge (12) jumps over a ground ball while running to third base against Perryville Tuesday at the Sikeston Sports Complex in Sikeston. Perryville won the game, 8-7. Chris Pobst, Staff

SIKESTON -- During their first two games the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs' defense has been as solid as ever.

Tuesday, however, their consistency wore out.

The Lady Bulldogs committed five errors against the visiting Perryville Lady Pirates which put them in a hole early, leading to an 8-7 loss -- their first of the year.

"The small errors that we made, shouldn't be made. Ever," Sikeston senior Sydney King said. "That got us down and (Perryville) was hitting the holes. It was just a good job by them of taking advantage of us."

Perryville turned four of Sikeston's costly errors into five runs. A small control problem by Sikeston starter Paige Sailors, who allowed one hit and two walks during her one inning as pitcher, added to the Lady Bulldogs' early deficit.

"We got down early on a couple of errors and a couple of walks," Sikeston head coach Tiffany Morgan said. "You have to have solid defense behind you. Those five errors really hurt us."

Despite dropping into a 2-0 hole, Sikeston rallied in the top of the second to take a 3-2 lead.

Bayleah James and Annie Ramey began the inning with back to back singles. Kirsten Baker knocked James in on a sacrifice fly. Kayla Fodge scored Ramey from third with an RBI single.

Fodge later scored on a wild pitch.

"Our offense is strong," King said, "we just have to make sure our defense can keep up with our offense."

Perryville (1-6) retook the lead in the next half inning behind three hits including doubles from Fahnestock and Aleshia Reiss. Emma Nelson chipped in with a single.

"Perryville came up ready to hit and did their job," Morgan said. "They've been producing good teams and they lost a lot of seniors from last year. They've had some tough losses this year already. They didn't look like the same ball team today."

The Lady Pirates added to their lead in the fifth inning, going up 8-3, behind two more defensive miscues by Sikeston (2-1).

An outfield error allowed Fahnestock to score from second while Nelson reached third. Nelson later scored on Sikeston's second error of the inning.

The error bug hit Perryville in the sixth inning allowing the Lady Bulldogs to come within two runs of their lead.

A routine fly ball in the infield was dropped with two outs allowing both Fodge, who led Sikeston with a 4 for 4 performance at the plate, and Chaney to score.

"As the game went on, we did get more focused and realized we needed to pick it up," said King. "We just didn't come alive fast enough."

Perryville eventually extinguished Sikeston's threat in the sixth inning, on a fielder's choice play.

"We definitely battled back, "said King, "but I feel like we could have come out of our slump a lot sooner in the game. We weren't there defensively in the beginning. We could have been a bit more focused."

Sikeston's threatened again in the seventh, putting the tying and winning runs in scoring position.

With two outs, Hannah Placek, a freshman, kept the inning alive with a single. With the help of two more singles by Fodge and Chaney, Placek came across to score on a wild pitch to make it a one-run game.

A line drive off the bat of Maggie Shepherd, however, fell right into the hands of Perryville third baseman Macey Hall ended the game.

"We'll pulled it out pretty ugly," Perryville head coach Jeff Steffens said. "We were up 8-4 and we miscommunicated on a fly ball and gave up two runs. I thought it was going to be like our other games."

Chaney added three singles to Sikeston's hit total going a perfect 3 for 3. Shepherd, James and Sarah Dixon also had two hits apiece.

"They really stepped up and placed the ball. They're doing what they need to do offensively," Morgan said. "My two lefties, both Madison (Chaney) and Kayla (Fodge), had big games. Sydney is hitting the ball well and we had a freshman, Hannah (Placheck), come in and get a clutch hit for us, too.

"We had hits, they just weren't all at once."

Sikeston will host Farmington today at 4 p.m. at the Sikeston Sports Complex.

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