Lady Warriors looking to bounce back after tough weekend

Playing two Casper schools, the Worland Lady Warriors softball team is determined to bounce back from an 0-4 weekend.

The Lady Warriors (1-8) lost to Natrona High School 8-1 in the conference game and 6-3 in the non-conference game on April 12 at Newell Sargent Park. On April 13, Kelly Walsh beat Worland 20-3 and 19-4.

"Natrona had a good pitcher. She wasn't an overpowering thrower, but she had great control. Defensively, we played well but struggled with our bats," said WHS softball coach Tim Barrus.

The Lady Warriors game against Kelly Walsh was one of those games where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.

The Lady Warriors have played relatively error-free softball this season, but in the conference game, errors allowed Kelly Walsh to score 16 runs in the final three innings.

"Kelly Walsh was just a bad day. I thought we matched up well against Kelly Walsh, it just wasn't our day. We had more errors in that game than we have all season. I told the girls we'll forget that game and focus on Cody," said Barrus.

While Worland went winless over the weekend, several Lady Warriors made great plays or showed their versatility.

Aedyn Donahue showed off her speed against Natrona. The freshman had an inside-the-park home run and a great sliding catch in the outfield.

Cami Russel was able to fill in where the team needed her, whether that was in the outfield or pitching.

Ivey Roberts had strong cuts and is nearing a breakout game with her bat.

"Aedyn had that inside-the-park home run and made a great sliding catch in the outfield. Cami Russell filled some gaps for us that were vital. She's always willing to play where the team needs her. She's not an overpowering pitcher, but she has a lot of control. We can always count on her to throw strikes and get outs for us.

"Ivey Roberts was struggling a little bit with her bat, but she's really starting to break out of it. She had some really good hits. She's always been solid for us defensively. She threw a couple of runners out trying to steal second. Then she was willing to play outfield for us, too," said Barrus. We always have girls who are willing to help the team. They work hard and are good kids."

The Lady Warriors had one game this week, a conference game against the Cody Fillies on Tuesday. The game was moved to Tuesday to avoid bad weather.

"I was hoping to get in a few practices before. There were some things I wanted us to work on, but it'll be good to get out in a game and get the girls' confidence back up," said Barrus.

Cody beat Worland 17-1 in the conference game but Worland won the non-conference game 11-8.