Gallery by Chad Foreman
New Richmond – Independence pitcher Delaney Buckland knew Friday’s game against Wyoming East was going to be a rough one.
Pitching her sixth game in five days and the third in the the last 24 hours, the senior all-stater still wanted the ball.
“I knew coming into the game I was a little tired, but that was to be expected. I knew the game would be a little rough because of that,” Buckland said. “I like to be on the field, so that is where I wanted to be tonight.”
Although she did struggle at times, the good news for Buckland was her teammates had her back.
Collecting nine hits in the game and taking advantage of seven Wyoming East errors, the Patriots routed the Warriors 16-4.
“Anytime we can come down here and can get a win it is big. It is like I said yesterday, this is what home field is all about. You can’t come down here and coast,” Independence head coach Ken Adkins said. “The difference today was no strikeouts. We didn’t strikeout a single time. Before we have struggled, even with slower pitching. Today we put up 16 runs and we pounded the ball.”
The misery for the home team started early with three errors in the first frame that led directly to a 5-0 lead for the Patriots.
“We made mistakes on routine plays that we normally make,” Wyoming East head coach Robert “Doc” Warner said. “We played pretty good and we hit the ball, but we got ourselves in trouble early not making those routine plays.”
Kayley Bane drilled a shot down the left field line for a one-out triple to give Wyoming East life in the bottom of the inning.
Although Buckland appeared fine and struckout the next batter, she struggled to find the plate and walked the next three Warriors.
With Wyoming East looking for a big inning, the Indy senior coaxed an infield fly ball for the third out to escape any further harm.
Buckland had the option of sitting out the game Friday according to her coach.
“I send her a text message every day and I asked her this morning if she was alright. I asked her if she wanted me to send Emma (Lilly) today,” Adkins said. “She said she was fine. She likes to throw everyday and said she didn’t want to sit and watch the game. She wanted to be in it.”
Independence scratched another run across in the second inning before adding two more in the fourth aided by a pair of Wyoming East errors.
The Patriots attempted to apply the knockout blow in the fifth inning.
A one-out single from Buckland and a ringing double from Alli Hypes set the table for Lilly who reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Kamryn Wooten who came in to courtesy run for Buckland.
The big blow of the inning was a shot just inside the first base bag by Kassidy Bradbury which cleared the bases for her second and third RBIs of the night.
“We moved Kassidy from (the) nine (spot) up to five and she has raised her batting average nearly 150 points,” Adkins said, laughing. “You never know what goes on in the mind of kids.”
Trailing 11-1 and on the verge of being run-ruled, Wyoming East finally got Buckland in the bottom of the inning.
Emma Simpson doubled to open the at-bat and Bane followed with a sharp single that wasn’t handled cleanly, scoring Simpson.
A one-out single from Andrea Laxton moved Bane to third with Laxton taking second base on the throw home.
With two runners in scoring position. Alivia Monroe hit a single to left field, scoring both runners and cutting the lead to 11-4.
“That is a different Delaney Buckland when she is tired,” Adkins said. “But it is also a different Delaney that we brought here tonight. In years past when those things would have happened, we wouldn’t have picked her up and she would have struggled. She was tough today and that is what a senior does. That shows how she has developed over her career.”
A single from Haley Adkins and a walk to Cadee Blackburn loaded the bases, but Buckland dug deep and forced a ground ball out to escape the jam.
Buckland’s teammates went to work in the sixth inning and put the game away.
Avorie Varney doubled to open the sixth and scored on a single from Allie Warden. After stealing her way to third, Warden then scored on a single from Hypes. Before Wyoming East could get out of the inning, the Patriots had tallied five runs.
“(Wyoming East) had some giddy-up to them like they were going to make something happen,” Adkins said. “Whether it is in the section or the region, teams are going to rise up. We have to be able to squash the rebellion whenever it happens.”
Buckland set the Warriors down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning which included her tenth strikeout of the night.
“I feel like I know who the players are now,” Adkins said. “We know who we are and what we have on the field. We are deep down the bench too. We have kids coming in running the bases and they are confident.”
