Bittersweet
Gorillas drop pair at MIAA tourney, but future is bright
Josh Letner
Issue date: 5/7/09 Section: Sports
OVERLAND PARK - The Gorilla softball team saw its season come to an end following two consecutive losses in the MIAA championship tournament at the Blue Valley Recreation Complex.
The Gorillas dropped the opening game 9-0 to the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. The Gorillas managed only four hits against UNO starter Melissa Negrete, who improved to 16-6 on the season.
The Mavericks got on the board early by plating five runs in the first inning. Melissa Slayden seemed out of synch for the Gorillas, surrendering nine runs (six earned) on 11 hits.
"We just couldn't get anything going, and our pitching wasn't what it was going in," coach Brad Horky said. "Maybe we were a little tired, I don't know."
The first-round loss moved the Gorillas into the losers' bracket, where they were matched with the Fort Hays State Tigers. Fort Hays was coming off an 8-4 loss to Central Missouri in the first round.
The Gorillas lit the lamp early in the first inning when Amanda De Castro doubled to right scoring Cassie Martin, but Hays answered back by scoring four in runs in the bottom of the second and two runs in both the bottom of the third and the bottom of the fourth.
"We took the lead against Hays in the second game, but we couldn't hold it," Horky said. "We left a lot of runners on. We hit the ball well, it doesn't look like it, but we hit the ball well. We just hit right at people. It just didn't go our way like it had been before."
A key factor in the lack of offensive production was the status of the Gorillas' catalyst, Amanda "Mannie" DeCastro.
"We didn't have Mannie up at the tournament," Horky said. "She could barely swing and she leads the offense. There were a couple of times she came up, if she'd been healthy she might have driven in some runs for us. That hurt us because she's the key to our offense, but she'll be the key for the next three years."
While the quick exit from the conference tournament may be disappointing, Horky says that there is a lesson to be learned by his young team.
The Gorillas dropped the opening game 9-0 to the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. The Gorillas managed only four hits against UNO starter Melissa Negrete, who improved to 16-6 on the season.
The Mavericks got on the board early by plating five runs in the first inning. Melissa Slayden seemed out of synch for the Gorillas, surrendering nine runs (six earned) on 11 hits.
"We just couldn't get anything going, and our pitching wasn't what it was going in," coach Brad Horky said. "Maybe we were a little tired, I don't know."
The first-round loss moved the Gorillas into the losers' bracket, where they were matched with the Fort Hays State Tigers. Fort Hays was coming off an 8-4 loss to Central Missouri in the first round.
The Gorillas lit the lamp early in the first inning when Amanda De Castro doubled to right scoring Cassie Martin, but Hays answered back by scoring four in runs in the bottom of the second and two runs in both the bottom of the third and the bottom of the fourth.
"We took the lead against Hays in the second game, but we couldn't hold it," Horky said. "We left a lot of runners on. We hit the ball well, it doesn't look like it, but we hit the ball well. We just hit right at people. It just didn't go our way like it had been before."
A key factor in the lack of offensive production was the status of the Gorillas' catalyst, Amanda "Mannie" DeCastro.
"We didn't have Mannie up at the tournament," Horky said. "She could barely swing and she leads the offense. There were a couple of times she came up, if she'd been healthy she might have driven in some runs for us. That hurt us because she's the key to our offense, but she'll be the key for the next three years."
While the quick exit from the conference tournament may be disappointing, Horky says that there is a lesson to be learned by his young team.
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