Independence head softball coach Ken Adkins felt good about his team heading into the 2024 season.
After the first two weeks of the season, the veteran coach is now scratching his head a little bit.
Saturday afternoon at Larry T. Poe Field, the Patriots (7-5) hit another speed bump in the road, dropping a 20-12 decision to Winfield (5-7).
“We are just not very good right now. We can score some runs and its not that we can’t make great plays, we just can’t make the routine play at times,” Adkins said. “Coming into the season I felt like I had one of my best defensive teams, but we are not there for whatever reason.”
While the Patriots have shown the ability to score a pile of runs, they have also struggled surrendering them, especially early.
Saturday it was once again a struggle right out of the gate for Indy. The Generals put up a five-spot in the second inning and added three more in the fourth frame to build a 9-1 lead.
Rylee McClellen did much of the early damage for Winfield with was double to score a pair of runs and also had a two run homer.
Independence sliced into the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a two-run double from Alli Hypes and a sacrifice fly from Emma Lilly.
Trailing 10-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Indy then scored four runs to move within striking distance.
Allie Warden tripled home one run and scored on a wild pitch before Lilly knocked in two runs with a double.
Lilly knocked in five runs, while Hypes hit three doubles.
“We didn’t score in the first two innings, but we can manufacture some runs,” Adkins said. “We are just digging ourselves such big holes that we can’t get out of them.”
The lead was 12-8 when the visitors ran away by scoring eight runs in the final inning.
The big blast came from Brooklyn Cole who hit a three-run home run. It was the second big fly of the day for the sophomore standout who hit a two-run blast in the second inning.
Cole had six RBI Saturday and McClellen drove home seven runners.
On an extremely blustery day, neither team had much success in the circle.
“Winfield hit the ball well today. When you can’t throw strikes and put the ball where you want it, you are going to struggle,” Adkins said. “Emma has not pitched and it is a different role for her. Paytin (Brehm) pitched last year, but she is just a sophomore. It is a big difference from what we have had in the past. Those were experienced players and pitchers only. So, it is just a little different right now.”
Independence will now head to Myrtle Beach for games across spring break. It is a trip that may be coming at just the right time for the Patriots.
“We need kind of a reboot. I came out of the winter feeling pretty good, but not so much right now,” Adkins said. “What I have struggled the most with is getting a rotation with my pitchers who are also fielders. I have never had to do that before. One through four in the line-up we are solid. We are pretty good at the bottom of the order. We just need to tinker some.”
