Hailey Knowles at bat when the Cowboys took on the Rifle Bears. | TIFFANY JEHOREK PHOTO
Brea Garcia pitched in the home opener for the Meeker Cowboys. Garcia had 63 pitches and only allowed seven hits. | TIFFANY JEHOREK PHOTO
RBC I Friday was opening day for softball and the Rifle Bears came to Meeker for a JV and varsity double header. The start of the season was against two 4-A non-conference teams, Rifle and Palisade.
“It was a hard fought battle for pitchers Brea Garcia and Hailey Knowles on Varsity Friday night against Rifle,” commented head coach Kendall Bergman, “they both pitched very well and fought hard.”
Rifle was up early and big, and by the third it was 8-0 the Bears. Meeker was unable to get the bats going and only scored two runs by Mykayla Wille and Dylan Herndon, but held the Bears from scoring for three innings. Final score was 11-2.
In the JV game, “Reagan Hafey and Wille combined for a stellar pitching performance in the win for JV against Rifle on Friday,” said Bergman.
Saturday the Cowboys hit the road for their first trip of the year.
“Knowles and Garcia each pitched a game and performed very well,” commented Bergman, “defensively Kastyn Dembowski had some great plays in center field, Hafey at shortstop, and Ryann Mergelman/Vivian Brown behind the plate.”
The Cowboys and Bulldogs were even at the bottom of the second tied three all.
“Clutch hits by Hafey and Mergelman helped bring the Palisade team within reach,” said Bergman.
A big inning for the Bulldogs in the third meant that the Bulldogs were up 8-3 and the Cowboys were unable to make up the distance. Final score was 14-4 the Bulldogs.
The Cowboys have another 4-A non-conference game next Tuesday when Meeker heads to Eagle. Then Saturday, Sept. 4 they take on Limon in an at-home double header games beginning at 9 a.m.; the Badgers are a 3-A top 10 ranked team.“This should help us prepare for our conference schedule that follows,” wrapped up Bergman.
By TIFFANY JEHOREK – Special to the Herald Times
