NEW MANCHESTER - The Edison softball team jumped out to a 6-1 lead and cruised to an 8-4 victory Monday at Oak Glen's Field of Dreams Complex.
"I don't think we swung the bats very well today, and, to be honest with you, we haven't been swinging the bats real well for the past two weeks," Edison head coach Spencer Bendle said. "I think our pitching has gotten better as the year has gone on, but our bats have kind of fallen asleep a little bit. We need to get our bats going better here. It is getting awfully close to tournament time."
Though the Bears (8-21) were down by five runs early in the game, they continued to battle to the end of the game.
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AND THE PITCH — Edison’s Caitlin Brenstuhl throws a pitch during Monday’s 8-4 win over Oak Glen.
-- Aaron Petchal
"They do battle," Oak Glen head coach Michelle McHaffie said. "They try everything they can to try and get back, and usually it is in the seventh inning. This one was in the sixth. Even though they lost 8-4, I still think it is a confidence booster to show that they can stay in with a team like Edison as good as they are."
Caitlin Brenstuhl picked up the win. She struck out three and walked four in four innings. Zoe Westfall finished the game, striking out six.
Offensively, the Wildcats collected 12 singles.
Kristin Prokopakis had three, Kasey DellaPenna two and two RBIs and Molly McCoy one and two RBIs.
"Caitlin hasn't thrown for a while, so it didn't surprise me that she might have been a little rusty and a little off with some of her pitches," Bendle said. "That is why I wanted to get her a few innings in here today.
"Zoe, coming in halfway through the ballgame, she did a fine job. I thought she threw her pitches fairly well."
For Oak Glen, offensively, Casey Patterson contributed two singles and an RBI, Tia Smith tallied a run-scoring double and Tayler Maxwell collected two hits.
Edison broke the game open with two runs in the fourth inning for the 6-1 cushion.
Oak Glen ended up scoring three runs in the sixth to pull within 6-4. The Golden Bears had an opportunity to pull even closer or perhaps take the lead for the first time in the game, but Westfall was able to pitch her way out of a jam.
Edison is scheduled to play at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Beaver Local in a makeup game.
"We have had an up-and-down year," Bendle said. "The first week, we didn't play real well. Then, I thought we played well for two weeks, and then for the past two weeks we have not been playing real well again.
"Like I said, I think our pitching has been there, but the rest of our game has not been there. We have not played real solid defensively, our baserunning has been poor and our bats have been real quiet.
"Those things have got to change here within the next week."
After today's home game with Toronto, Oak Glen will play in the West Virginia Class AA Region 1, Section 1 Tournament at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday with a doubleheader at Weir. Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday if necessary.
Edison 8, Oak Glen 4
Edison 310 200 2 - 8 12 0
Oak Glen 100 003 0 - 4 7 5
EDISON (14-9): Brenstuhl (WP, 3K, 4BB), Westfall (5, 6K, 1BB) and Sheets, Kr. Prokopakis (5); Kr. Prokopakis 3S; DellaPenna 2S, 2rbi; McCoy S, 2rbi; Ka. Prokopakis S, rbi; Hunter S, rbi; Brenstuhl S, rbi; Trifonoff S; Snyder S; Wiedaman S.
OAK GLEN: Cunningham (LP, 1K, 2BB) and Vega; Patterson 2S, rbi; Smith D, rbi; Maxwell 2S; Pryot S; Cunningham S; McPherson rbi.
