Arizona softball has had some interesting intrasquad games this fall. The fourth one was the most creative.
The Wildcats were divided into three offensive teams wearing red, white, and blue, although the groups were mixed on defense. Each team had a starting pitcher wearing their color, but there were also relievers wearing grey uniforms. They played four innings.
The Red team was the last group to put runs on the board, but it used two big innings to dominate the game by the score of Red 9-White 3-Blue
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The format allowed most of Arizona’s players to get into the game. They were formidable with the bats, but the defense was not sharp. There were only two official errors in the game, but Arizona had several other plays that developed too slowly or had balls bouncing off players’ gloves. They weren’t called errors, but some of them were very close.
Pitchers Rylie Holder and Kaylan Yoder did not play, but the other 19 Wildcats did. Lilly Hauser, Jenae Berry, and Ryley Harrison started in the circle for Red, White, and Blue, respectively. Jalen Adams and Sarah Wright came in as relievers. They both wore grey jerseys.
Hauser pitched against the Blue lineup consisting of Regan Shockey, Sereniti Trice, Madison Conley, Kez Lucas, Elizabeth Moffitt, and Jaelyn Castillo. Berry pitched against a Red lineup of JaMaya Byrum, Sina Talataina, Natalie Keith, Molli Daley, Sydney Stewart, and Lilly Hauser. The White lineup of Tele Jennings, Violet Mitchell, Addison Duke, Madi Babasa, Gabby Nevarez, and Grace Jenkins faced Harrison.
Berry got off to the best start of the three opening pitchers. She gave up just one walk in the first two innings. The third was a monster, though.
The Red team came into the inning with no runs. White and Blue were tied with two each.
Berry got Byrum on a lineout for the first out, but the next two batters got on via back-to-back singles. That brought up Daley.
The sophomore outfielder rarely gets to hit. She gets into game regularly, but it’s almost exclusively as a pinch runner. She showed that she has some other skills, going 2-2 with a sacrifice bunt and three RBI on the day.
Daley sent the first pitch of her second at-bat over the centerfield wall. It was a no-doubter. Three runs scored to finally put the Red team on the board. They led R3-W2-B2 and they weren’t done.
Stewart stepped into the box and took a strike. She hit the next pitch out of the park for back-to-back home runs. That ended Berry’s outing with Red leading R4-W2-B2.
Adams came in to relieve Berry. She got the final two outs with a strikeout and a groundout.
The Red team’s success wasn’t over. Wright came in to pitch the fourth inning for the White team.
The first hitter she faced was Talataina, who got on via a fielding error by Lucas at third. Two singles loaded the bases and brought Stewart to the plate. The catcher got into a full count then sent it over the wall for a grand slam. It was her second home run of the game and the Red team was up R8-W2-B3.
That brought Adams in to relieve Wright. While last year’s ace had stopped the bleeding when she relieved Berry earlier, she didn’t have the same success in the final inning.
Hauser came out of the dugout to bat. Pitching coach Christian Conrad spoke with her briefly before she stepped into the box. Hauser laid down a bunt, perhaps to practice for future sacrifice opportunities. She wasn’t quite quick enough to leg it out, but it turned the order over to bring Byrum up.
Byrum had just three home runs in her three seasons at Liberty. It certainly didn’t look like that in the fourth inning. The infielder got into an 0-2 count then knocked the third pitch over the fence for the Wildcats’ fourth home run of the game.
Adams got the next two outs to end the inning, but she and Wright combined to give up five runs on five hits and an error. Red was now up R9-W2-B3.
Hauser returned to the circle to face the White team. She gave up a walk and a double to score one run, but it was the only damage done. The run didn’t threaten the Red team, which still led R9-W3-B3 when the middle third of an inning came to a close.
Adams returned in the final third of an inning to pitch against the Blue team. She sat them down in order on two groundouts and a flyout.
Harrison went three innings. She gave up two runs on five hits. Berry gave up four runs on five hits in 2.1 IP. Hauser surrendered four runs on eight hits in four innings of work.
Adams threw three innings of relief and gave up one run on three hits. She also allowed an inherited run to score.
Wright went 0.1 innings in relief. She gave up four runs on three hits and an error committed behind her.
The Wildcats wrap up their fall scrimmages with an early morning game against UNLV at 10 a.m. MST on Friday, Nov. 13.
