Sussex Central gives IR softball third loss of the season

The Lady Indians’ varsity softball season was dealt another blow this week, after a 1-2 start, as the Lady Knights of Sussex Central bested Indian River 15-4 at the Pyle Center in Roxana this past Monday, April 9. After a dominant first inning from the Knights, Indian River found themselves in a hole, and Central all but extinguished them with a seven-run inning in the fifth.

Coastal Point • R. Chris Clark
Karlie Smith fields a ball at second base for the Lady Indians in Monday's game against Sussex Central. Indian River fell 15-4 to the Lady Knights.

“We were ready,” said Indian River head coach Chris Megee, “but when we you get behind early in the game and you get behind in the count, and your defense gets on their heels a little bit, bad things will happen when you let runners on.”

Katie Warrington batted 2-3 at the plate, with two RBI’s and three runs scored for the Lady Knights. Cyndie Givens hit 2-4 with a three-run homerun in the fifth that put Indian River behind even more. Winning pitcher Mykala Steele threw a six-hitter against Indian River, with eight strikeouts.

For the Lady Indians, Karlie Smith batted 2-3, with an RBI, and Anamaria Impastato contributed a double, two stolen bases and three runs scored.

“We’ve got to play lights-out softball,” said Megee. “We can’t just have two or three players contributing on offense. We need it all the way through the lineup, one through nine. When we do, we have a good chance of winning, but when we don’t have that, you have a slim chance of coming out on top.”

One of the Lady Indians’ struggles this year has come with the need to piece together a young roster, which includes starting pitcher and sophomore Rachel Hudson.

“Once Rachel got halfway through the game,” said Megee, “I thought she pitched really well. She had to fight through it, and I knew she’d be tired after that long, first inning. But she has a lot of heart and plays through adversity.

“Rachel is a young, talented pitcher and, in that role, you have to know what it takes to get ready for teams like Central. She’s learning to work at that position, and she’s getting better each time she goes out there.”

With a roster that boasts only a handful of upperclassmen, Megee is trying to get everyone on the same page. At times, Indian River put some runners on bases and it seemed they might mount a comeback, but the inexperienced defense was not able to reciprocate.

“We’re a young team,” he said. “We had some long innings where we shouldn’t have allowed any runs at all [by Central], but that will all come with time. I told the girls when we were down 11-2, ‘Let’s pretend it’s 0-0.’ We’re not playing for this game, but for the whole season. If you pack it up and fold, that just makes it easier to do it the next time. If we keep fighting through it, good things will happen. You never know what the outcome will be. We’re not going to give up, though. Maybe we get that break the next time we’re out there.”

With stiff competition around the corner, including Caravel, St. Mark’s, Seaford and Delmar in their next games, Megee wanted his team to put the Central loss behind them.

“You need to wipe this game out of your head as quick as possible,” he noted. “We have to get some good batting practice in and get ourselves ready. The one thing I can say is that these girls are working hard – if not harder – than anyone in the state. We’re trying to get one day better, each day.”

The Lady Indians were set to face Caravel Academy at the Lower Sussex Little League Fields at Roxana’s Pyle Center on Wednesday, April 11, (after Coastal Point press deadline), and were then scheduled to head to St. Mark’s on Saturday, April 14, at noon. They return home this coming week, as they host Seaford on Tuesday, April 17, then travel to Delmar on Thursday, April 19.