Lady Warriors earn first ever win

WORLAND - Nearly everything the Worland Lady Warriors softball team does in their inaugural season is historical in some fashion. This 2021 team will essentially be the version of a YouTuber who puts "FIRST" at the bottom of a newly posted video. But, Saturday's 14-4 win against Green River is the best firsts of them all, as it was the program's first win.

The Lady Warriors (1-2) April 10 win over Green River (0-5) at Newell Sargent Park was also the team's first home win and conference win.

Before their win against Green River, Worland dropped their April 9 game versus Rocky Springs, 12-1, at Newell Sargent Park.

"The girls definitely needed that," said WHS softball coach Crystal Redding about the win versus Green River. "After the Rock Springs game, we were talking, and I told them that one inning where we had three errors cost us a lot. The girls were down on themselves, but I told them we've got Green River, let's start fresh and take it one game at a time."

Falling behind 2-0 after the first inning, the Lady Warriors made quick work of the Lady Wolves at the top of the second. Pitcher Brooke Hellyer picked up two of her nine strikeouts in the inning, and catcher Carmyn Buckman tagged out a runner at home plate.

Freshman Olivia Hawkins single in the bottom of the second awoke the Worland bats. In the next at-bat, Brooke Wright hit a double that brought in Kylie Fronk. Winnie Smith doubled, and Vivian Hawkins singled to load the bases for Worland.

Tied at 2-2, and with the bases loaded, Hellyer took her second at-bat and ripped a shot to deep centerfield. Hellyer legged out a triple and drove in three runs to go up 5-3.

The Lady Warriors scored three more runs and took an 8-2 lead going into the third.

"That first inning, I was a little worried, but then they snapped out of it. They went into the second inning and got eight runs just like that. That should give them confidence and let them know that they can compete.

"Sometimes that's all they need, just that one hit. Brooke [Hellyer] has done that thing where she says she can't hit but got a hold of that one. I told her I knew it all along that she had that ability in her. With her getting that hit, everyone else wanted to get a hit too because she's always joking that she can't hit," said Redding.

After taking the lead in the second, the Lady Warriors never looked back. Eventually, 10-running Green River in the fifth inning.

Games are called if a team has a 15-run lead after the third inning and 10 after the fifth.

With their bats waking up in the second, the Worland defense tightened up too for the remaining three innings, only giving up two runs.

"After they made that one error, they were better with their throws and were communicating. They were talking after every at-bat about where they were going to go. With my infield playing for quite a while, they're always very vocal. Vivian [Hawkins], Carmyn [Buckman] and Kylie [Fronk] are communicating about what to do next," said Redding. "That was huge for us, and it carried through into the JV game. Saturday was just a great day for our program."

Wanting to get in on the act, the Worland JV team also got the win on Saturday. Rihan Rosario hit a game-winning double to give Worland the 12-11 victory.

The Lady Warriors now begin the toughest stretch of their schedule. This week they're on the road taking on Natrona County and Kelly Walsh in Casper on Friday and Saturday.

Natrona is 1-3 on the season, and Kelly Walsh is 4-0 and looking like the team to beat. Redding and her team are embracing their underdog role against Kelly Walsh and looking to hand them their first loss.

"We've got Natrona and Kelly Walsh. They're going to be tough games, especially Kelly Walsh. We've played some of these girls in the fall, and we know their abilities and what they can do. We're going to have an intense week of practice to get ready for both teams.

"Talking with the girls before practice, we talked about being the first team to knock off Kelly Walsh and how great that would be. I want us to have that mentality this week, and that really hyped up the girls in practice," said Redding.