Jacob Kenter
Staff Writer
Parkland College defeated Danville Area Community College 7-3 in the first game of the double header on Tuesday afternoon.
After falling behind in the top of the first inning, the Cobras came back to tie it up in the bottom half of the first.
Later in the third inning the Cobras broke the game open by hitting three doubles, a triple and two singles. Then in the sixth inning they added their seventh and final run of the game.
Amber Tabeling said the turning point in the game was in the third inning when the intensity picked up in the dugout.
The winning pitcher was Sophie Catlin with a stellar performance allowing three runs on five hits over six innings and she added on five strikeouts.
“I pitched good. I felt like I got better as the game went on,” Caitlin said.
One of the keys to the game was how well the offense was performing; six of their eight hits went for extra bases.
Coach Chuck Clutts said the offense hit the ball really well early in the game, but kind of cooled off as the day went on.
One thing going for the Cobras the entire day was how well their defense did- they played an errorless game.
Clutts compared the fall season to spring training saying, “It’s okay to have physical errors, but we have to work to not have mental errors.”
In the second of two games the Cobras cruised to an 8-0 victory behind the arm of Jaclyn Thompson, who threw a two hit shutout while striking out seven.
The Cobras didn’t need much offense, but they did get plenty of it, scoring four runs in the first inning. They never looked back after that.
Catlin said it was really nice to beat them a second time this year.
At this point in the year the team is treating every game like a learning opportunity, so they can correct the little mistakes for spring season and their run at a championship.
The Cobras are now 10-1 on the season with their only loss coming to a Division 1 opponent. Their next game is Sept. 26.
