DARLINGTON - A little snow in deep center field and gusting winds weren't going to stop the Redbirds and Ponies from kicking off their softball seasons Tuesday night.
Darlington rode the steady pitching arm of starter Allison Taylor to an 8-2 non-conference victory at home over Monticello.
Taylor went all seven innings and struck out three, while walking none. Her counterpart, Mary Hershberger, walked eight, perhaps as an adverse result of spending countless hours training and throwing thousands of pitches in the offseason.
"She was awfully hyped up for this one," Monticello coach Duane Garrison said.
The Ponies were unable to sit back and wait on Taylor's drop ball as the wind gave the pitch an even more devastating break pattern.
Monticello outfielder Tanya Kammes was the only player with two hits, while Courtney McBee and Mykel Wedig both had doubles for Darlington. McBee also drove in a run.
Where the rest of his defense showed its youth, Garrison was more than pleased with Kammes running down several balls in the outfield.
Redbirds coach Rebecca Nordgard admitted her club made some baserunning mistakes.
"But some of them worked out to our favor," she said.
The Ponies threw the ball around for five errors.
"We made the easy plays look very hard," Garrison said.
While no balls found their way to a wide stretch of snow along the center field warning track, if they had, a ground-rule double was the agreed-upon result.
"It was one of those throw your hands up in the air if it goes in the snow situations," Norgard said.
While the game marked the first time the Ponies stepped onto an actual diamond this spring, it was also the first taste of starting on varsity for five of Garrison's players.
Darlington rode the steady pitching arm of starter Allison Taylor to an 8-2 non-conference victory at home over Monticello.
Taylor went all seven innings and struck out three, while walking none. Her counterpart, Mary Hershberger, walked eight, perhaps as an adverse result of spending countless hours training and throwing thousands of pitches in the offseason.
"She was awfully hyped up for this one," Monticello coach Duane Garrison said.
The Ponies were unable to sit back and wait on Taylor's drop ball as the wind gave the pitch an even more devastating break pattern.
Monticello outfielder Tanya Kammes was the only player with two hits, while Courtney McBee and Mykel Wedig both had doubles for Darlington. McBee also drove in a run.
Where the rest of his defense showed its youth, Garrison was more than pleased with Kammes running down several balls in the outfield.
Redbirds coach Rebecca Nordgard admitted her club made some baserunning mistakes.
"But some of them worked out to our favor," she said.
The Ponies threw the ball around for five errors.
"We made the easy plays look very hard," Garrison said.
While no balls found their way to a wide stretch of snow along the center field warning track, if they had, a ground-rule double was the agreed-upon result.
"It was one of those throw your hands up in the air if it goes in the snow situations," Norgard said.
While the game marked the first time the Ponies stepped onto an actual diamond this spring, it was also the first taste of starting on varsity for five of Garrison's players.
