Lady Patriots top Bat-itude in 19-9 victory

By Sharilyn Wells
Paraglide

	Photos by Sharilyn Wells/Paraglide Lady Patriots captain and pitcher, Penny Mills, throws a softball at a women’s softball game, June 24. Mills’ home run led her team to a 19-9 victory over Bat-itude.

Tensions soared in the first five minutes of the softball game between the Lady Patriots and Bat-itude.

A run into home plate that resulted in a little shoving and an exchange of choice words set the pace for the rest of the game on the night of June 24 at the softball fields behind Callahan Athletic Center off Reilly Street.

Bat-itude started out strong, hitting multiple base hits and clean slides into home plate. The ladies of Bat-itude were all smiles when two of their teammates were called safe by umpires as members of the Lady Patriots threw their hands up into the air in frustration.

By the third inning, tempers flared when umpires called two of the Lady Patriots’ slides into home and second base, out.

With Bat-itude up to bat and the first three players walked, Lady Patriots’ stepped up their game and managed to tag out Bat-itude’s Jessica Dretzka, on third base — or so they thought. Amidst much confusion, the two umpires argued over who had third base and made their final call—Dretzka was safe. With groans coming from the crowd, the Lady Patriots brushed off the call as they got back up to bat.

With a fellow teammate bringing her home, Lady Patriots Leigha Ubanks was rounding third base when she slipped and fell. Hustling to get the ball to home, Bat-itude saw their opportunity to stop her from scoring, but Ubanks quickly picked herself up and began limping home. She crossed home plate just as the ball fell into Bat-itude’s catcher’s mitt.

Finishing strong with three home runs, the Lady Patriots racked up the runs for a score of 19-9.
Lady Patriots’ team captain, Penny Mills led the home run spectacle hitting her home run down midfield, almost making it over the fence, Heather Gaddy hit low and hard also, resulting in a home run, as Ashley Caswell followed suit, hitting low and speeding through bases.

Lady Patriots’ head coach Joseph Roberts, who has been coaching for about 20 years, said his team’s strategy was to use their speed and routine plays to achieve this win. “Our main goal was to get as many base hits we could,” Roberts said. And base hits they got, and a lot of them.

This past weekend, the Lady Patriots played five games in the two-day Southern Softball Athletic Association 17th Annual Fire Cracker Softball Tournament in Burlington, N.C. and finished third out of nine teams. The Lady Patriots are currently ranked number one on Fort Bragg.

For more information about women’s softball and their games, visit Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation’s website at www.fortbraggmwr.com or call 396-1218.

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