Dawg PounD-ing

A long grueling wait had the Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs chomping at the bit in anticipation of the District 12-6A opener. After eight days and multiple weather cancellations, the Lady Dawgs finally hosted the Killeen Lady Roos on Wednesday. “It was very good to finally get back on the field ironically for our very first home game, said Copperas Cove head coach Bryan Waller. “It’s tough when your first home game is your first district game, but we haveto live with our game limits and we have to live with Mother nature. After some early game miscues left them in a 2-0 hole, the Lady Dawgs piled on 17 unanswered runs on 13 hits in a four-inning mercy-rule victory over the Lady Roos. “We started off dind of slow, said Cove senior pitcher Carlee Duran. “We had a few errors and stuff, but we picked it back up. I don’t know what was up at the beginning but we talked as a team and were able to pick it up. I’m glad we were able to do that and overcome because I think it shows that, in the future when we’re playing other teams, we’ll be able to do the same. Seniors Autumn Hughes and Veronica Marshall each went 3-for-4 batting in the third and fourth spots to lead the Lady Dawgs’ bats. Hughes (3-for-4 , 2 3B, 4RBI, R) connected on a two-RBI triple in the bottom of the third that helped the Lady Dawgs to seven runs in the inning to break the game open 12-2. “It was good to see (Autumn) get those hits because she’s been kind of out of whack at times with her rhythm hittingwise,” said Waller. “When she gets her full rhythm back, she can hit with the best of them. Hopefully, this is a starting point for her to be real consistent.” Hughes has been tweaking her style at the plate a bit and it paid off for her on Wednesday. “I felt really confident tonight,” said Hughes. “I have been working on some new things with my hitting.” Patience at the plate allowed the Lady Dawgs to close out the contest with a 15-run mercy rule after Mia Gonzales and Zoe Frizzell were hit by pitches and Zhianna Johnson drew a walk to load the bases for the top of the lineup. Seniors Duran, Hughes and Marshall all connected on singles to drive the final five runs across the plate for the win. “I was extremely impressed with the way we came out,” said Waller. “They got two runs early on. Their leadoff batter is a sensationally fast young lady. Their speed got on base and they knocked them around. Then, I think we settled down. I think we were maybe too pumped up to begin with because they were ready to play. Once we settled down and got the timing down, we started hitting the ball hard. This is the best hitting game we had all year.” With eight seniors out of 12 players, the Lady Dawgs are poised to make another run at the playoffs, says Waller. “These seniors have a purpose for this season,” he said. “They want to go past the first round of the playoffs, but I’ve told them it’s not going to be given to them. They have to work for it. All these Killeen schools have gotten better and we know Midway and Belton are going to be at the top of their games. Every body is gunning for each other so we have to be at the top of our game. That’s what I stress with them – to have the right approach and the right mental framework, which we have been lacking at times. As long as we go to the games strong mentally, focused, determined and believing in ourselves, we can play with anybody out there.” The Lady Dawgs tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom half of the first on hits by Hughes and Marshall. They added to their lead in the second with three more runs. Gonzales was hit by a pitch to reach base while Johnson and Frizzell each reached on errors. They would all three eventually score on an error for a 5-2 Lady Dawg lead before blowing the game open in the third. Marshall (3-for-4, 2B, 2RBI, R), Duran (2-for-4, 3B, 3RBI, 3R), Johnson (1-for-3, HR, 3R, 2RBI), Ariel Smith (1-for-3, R), Angel Mullen (1-for-3, 2R), Gonzales (1- for-3, 3R), Jost (1-for-4) and Frizzell (0-3, 3R, 2HBP) all contributed Duran picked up the win from the mound for Cove. After giving up one unearned run and another earned run in the first inning, she pitched three shutout innings to secure the victory. She had four strikeouts and forced many groundouts in four innings in the circle. “Carlee always comes back,” said Hughes. “She never lets anything get to her. Her mind is strong when she’s playing.” Duran puts a lot of pressure on herself to keep composure and stay the course, even in the face of adversity. “If they’re getting good hits and we’re not making plays, I have to step up and I have to do it,” she said. “I try to be mentally stable there.” Waller has confidence in his ace and his pitching rotation as a whole. “She’s a strong leader,” Waller said about Duran. “She’s determined and focused and between her and Rachel (Jost), with the compliment they have, they have a good arsenal.” That arsenal was put to the test in the second game in as many days. The Lady Dawgs (8-4, 1-0 in District 12-6A) faced their toughest test of the season at Belton on Thursday in another weather make-up game. Results to come in Tuesday’s Cove Leader- Press.