Avila Lady Eagles Vs. Central Methodist

The program handed out at the game



  



On April 7, 2015, one of the biggest games of the spring season happened on Avila University’s Zarda Athletic Complex: Avila Lady Eagles vs. Central Methodist. Although Central Methodist is not their rival according to Kaley Harkrader, a Nursing major at Avila and the Catcher of the team, they still have been the first seed for quite a while and the Lady Eagles were hoping to change that. Now comes the big question: Were they successful in their goal?

The Lady Eagles started out strong against Central Methodist, not allowing any points in the first two innings. The bottom of the second ended with both teams tied, 0-0. The third inning is when everything started changing. During the top of the third, Central Methodist scored their first four runs. When it got to be Avila’s turn, they couldn’t come back the same way and scored no runs. It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth that the Lady Eagles scored a single run against Central Methodist, making the score 1-7. This would also be the score that finishes the game. The Lady Eagles ended up losing the second game to Central Methodist as well with the final score being 0-9. Have no fear for the Lady Eagles however, because although they lost both games against Central Methodist, their overall record so far this season is 21-7-1, according to Avila University’s softball website. The eagles still have a few games left in the season, along with the HAAC Conference Tournament.

Since the win against Central Methodist was so sought after, it’s expected that the players may have been mourning their losses. Players Kaycee Dexter (Shortstop), Kaley Harkrader (Catcher), and Brianna Peralta (1^st Base), all had things to say about the losses. Kaycee Dexter states, “I just think they had a really good offense and they got on us early, and then we made errors which didn’t help. We could have done better I think…I think we have a chance to actually beat them in the tournament if we do good.” Kaley Harkrader had this to say when asked about her thoughts on the game, “I think that we could have played better. I think we got intimidated by the team because they were good, and they’ve been the number one seed for a few years now.” Lastly, Brianna Peralta who just recently got medically released to play again had this to say, “It was really hard, like it was a really tough loss for everyone and it was really because we had been working so hard and like this was supposed to be a super fun day and it just turned bad really fast.”



Kaley Harkrader doing her job as a catcher 

The Lady Eagles have had a strong season so far as shown by their record, and these two losses are only bumps in the road to where they’re heading. As stated earlier, the season still has a few games left along with a tournament, and maybe Kaycee was right; they may end up taking Central Methodist in the tournament. Only time will tell, but either way, they are showing they are a solid team at Avila University.

Lady Eagle's team huddle

For footage of the game, follow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GgdV2frdpE