Eagles lose to the Quakers in a Classic Softball Duel
The NCS Eagles lost a heartbreakingly close game to the Sidwell Friends Quakers by a score of 3-2 in 8 innings. The Quakers got on the board early in the first inning when Quaker Jocelyn Wulf ‘16 scored on an RBI double by Skylar Gunty ‘17 after she reached on an error and was moved to second by a sacrifice bunt by Abby Meyers ‘18. However, NCS pitcher Logan Robinson ‘18 and the Eagles rallied back to hold the Quakers to just that one run. Robinson, who finished the game with 14 strikeouts, and Quaker pitcher Kaylee Simon ‘17, who finished with five strikeouts, then battled back and forth over the next five innings, keeping the other team off of the scoreboard with the help of their respective defenses. In the bottom of the sixth, NCS player Jamie Wang ‘19 hit a scorching line-drive double down the left field foul line. Later in the sixth inning, Robinson brought Wang home to knot the score with a hard-hit double up the middle. Again both pitchers and defenses rallied in the seventh and kept the game tied, leading to extra innings. In the top of the eighth, the Quakers scored two runs, one each by Gunty and and Tess Harvey ‘19. In the bottom of the eighth, the Eagles came around to rally. Down to their last out, Eagle Jamie Wang struck again with a tremendous home run over the fence to deep center field. After a brief meeting by the Quakers on the mound, Kaylee Simon managed to induce a ground ball to stop the Eagle rally.
NCS softball coach Danielle Malagari had this to say about the game: “It’s a loss in the score book, but our team battled incredibly hard, and we learned a lot about our character today. We look forward to what is to come with this team.” Eagle coach Jennifer Phelps added, “Logan Robinson has been putting together quite an amazing season for us this year. On top of driving in the tying run in the sixth, she really took charge out there on the mound today with quite an impressive performance. I can’t wait to see what she and the rest of the team will do this season.”
If both the NCS Eagles and the Sidwell Friends Quakers keep playing softball like what they did on Thursday, future meetings between these two programs should not be missed. These two teams have the potential to meet up again in both the ISL AA and the DCSAA tournaments.