Cottey College Comets drop final two games at home

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Cottey first baseman Megan Steffens puts out Fort Scott's Paige Colburn during the first of two games Tuesday afternoon. --Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail

The Cottey College Comets didn't quite get the finish they might have liked to the regular season as they were swept in their final home doubleheader of the year by the Fort Scott Community College Greyhounds.

"They're a good hitting team," Comets head coach Greg Tietz said of the 'Hounds. "A tight strike zone pretty much made us throw right down the middle and they were able to put the bat on the ball against us pretty good."

That tight strike zone seemed to be the major thorn in the side of the Comets all day long as game one starter Tara Mitchell got off to a rocky start. The Greyhounds were able to get the bats going quickly in the opening game and jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead after putting up two runs on two hits and two Comets errors in the opening frame.

The game didn't get much better for the Comets from that point on as their defensive struggles continued, ultimately resulting in nine errors in the contest. Mitchell seemed to find her groove in the middle innings, however, holding the "Hounds hitless through the next three innings with her only blemish coming in the fourth when she hit one Fort Scott batter.

Errors came back to haunt the Comets once again in the top of the fifth inning as the Greyhounds were able to take advantage of three more defensive miscues to add four more runs to their lead on just two hits, opening up a 6-0 advantage.

"They did hit a lot, they put it in play and our defense just didn't come through on that," Tietz said. "Once you get a few errors and a few timely hits, it puts you behind the game there."

The 'Hounds looked as though they might put the final nail in the coffin in the sixth inning and bring the game to an early end as the Comets committed three more costly errors. The Cottey defense stepped up when it counted, however, and Fort Scott was able to manage just one run in the inning.

By the time all was said and done, Fort Scott added three more runs in the seventh inning -- two of which came on Sarah Doyle's home run to deep left field -- to take the game by a final score of 10-0.

Game two got off to a much stronger start for the Comets as starting pitcher Megan Steffens had a rocky first inning in which she allowed two quick runs, but was able to recover quickly and faced just one over the minimum in the second.

The Comets answered the first-inning rally with a run of their own and looked as though they may be able to rebound from the poor first game, but were unable to get on the scoreboard again for the remainder of the game.

With the start of the third inning came the return of the Comets' defensive struggles as they committed two costly errors that led to four more runs for Fort Scott. Steffens had another good inning on the mound, but Fort Scott's talented bats were still able to manage three solid hits in the frame.

Doyle's second home run of the day opened up the contest even more, plating three more runs to cap off what ultimately ended as a six-run inning. The Comets committed two more errors in that frame that allowed Fort Scott to plate their six runs, opening up the lead to 12-1.

Neither team got on the board again from that point on in the contest, resulting in a 12-1 victory for the Greyhounds in five innings. Cottey did get a very strong defensive effort from Amanda Sebree in the day's second game, as she made an impressive diving catch to end the fourth inning.

"Amanda Sebree is just an amazing defensive player," Tietz said. "She's made plays like that all year for us and I'd put it as that's one of the top 10 plays on Sportscenter if ESPN was here."

The Comets were able to get the bat on the ball much better in game two as they notched four hits in the contest -- compared to just two in game one -- but were ultimately unable to translate their base running opportunities into runs.

The Comets were also in action for two road games over the weekend. Both games were originally scheduled to be played against St. Louis Community College-Forest Park, but due to some confusion, the Comets were forced to play against two different teams in the same afternoon.

The first game of the day was against the originally scheduled Region XVI opponent, Forest Park, and Cottey was able to come out on top of a very close contest. Both teams were able to get the bats going in that game and the Comets came out of the game on the good end of a 5-4 final score.

In the day's second game, the Comets were forced to square off against a totally unknown opponent in Kiswhaskee. That contest proved to be too much for the Comets to handle as they fell by a final score of 7-1.

With those games, the Comets finish out the season with a record of 14-16 and will now head into the Region XVI playoffs with high hopes as the fourth seed.

"The No. 1 seeded team is Mineral Area and we beat them twice this year," Tietz said. "So if we win our first game, we play them next, so we feel like we have a chance."

The first game of the double elimination tournament for the Comets is set for Thursday at 8 a.m., against Florissant Valley.

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