EDDYVILLE — Considering the weather conditions of the past week, Tony Fenton was happy to get six games in during the first week of the high school softball season.
Considering less than 24 hours earlier she gave up a two-run lead in a South Central Conference loss, Reina Taylor was pleased with her performance in the pitching circle Saturday for the Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont Rockets.
Taylor shook off her first loss of her senior season, allowing five runs in the top of the fifth inning in a 6-3 loss to Knoxville, pitching seven strong innings while collecting a pair of hits at the plate in a 4-3 non-conference win Saturday over Pleasantville.
"I was trying not to think about (Friday night's) game. I kept telling myself it's a new game, so just come out ready to play," Taylor said after improving to 4-1 in the circle on Saturday. "Don't think about being tired. Don't think about being sore. Just come out, get it done and rest afterwards."
The win pushes EBF to 4-2 overall this season. Only a scheduled game with Pella on Tuesday and the scheduled second game with the Trojans on Saturday were lost from the opening-week slate. Weather forced the contest with Pella to be postponed while a mix-up in scheduling forced Pleasantville to leave early.
"They thought we were playing two varsity games before a junior varsity game. We had it down as a JV game and a varsity doubleheader to follow," Fenton said. "They (Pleasantville) had to get back home for a ceremony they were hosting. Hopefully, we can reschedule that game later this season."
All things considered, Fenton would call the first week of the 2019 season a success for EBF. While several teams had several games wiped out due to rain, EBF got plenty of time on the diamond which might have played a factor in Friday's loss to Knoxville.
"I think you could see Reina getting a little tired late in that game on Friday," Fenton said. "She's worked a lot of innings to start the season."
Taylor is taking over the work load as the ace of the EBF pitching staff for Randie Richmond, now a freshman at Simpson College. On Friday, Knoxville rallied from a 3-1 deficit after a double by Alex Griggs tied the score at 3-3 in the fifth. Knoxville scored on an error that scored two runs, then a ground out scored the final run.
Less than 24 hours later, Taylor came out to make her fifth start in fifth start in a six-day stretch. After giving up two runs in the second inning to the Trojans, Taylor buckled down pitching three straight shutout innings before allowing three straight hits with two outs in the sixth as Pleasantville pulled within 4-3 on an RBI single by Bridgette McKinney.
"I was a pitcher last year, but because we had Randie it felt much more like a team effort," Taylor said. "This year, I feel a little more pressure to throw well every game. The biggest thing I learned from Randie is that she works hard every day. She's so serious about everything she does and works hard to very end. Her competitive drive is probably the biggest I've learned from her."
With the tying run at second, Taylor got help from her defense as EBF third baseman Faith Roberts snagged a liner hit by Taylor Foley to end the sixth. Taylor then took care of the final out in the seventh, stranding Mackenzie Olson at third with the potential tying run by fielding a grounder hit by Hannah Gibson to end the game.
"You have to be mentally tough in that situation. You can't let yourself think about what might happen if you throw a bad pitch," Taylor said. "You have to get it in your mind that you're going to throw well. You have to feel like you can do this. It's kind of an attack mindset. It's not an option to let them score."
Taylor scored EBF's first run in the first inning on Saturday and had an RBI single in the second that snapped a 2-2 tie. The EBF senior has used the same mentality to being a pitcher to be a successful hitter near the top of the Rocket batting order.
"It's the same mentality of attacking when you're pitching and when you're at the plate," Taylor said. "You have to go up there with the sense that you're going to do something good. That's something I've struggled with in the past."
EBF (4-2, 1-1 SCC) will be back on the field, weather permitting, Tuesday night at Chariton. The Rockets also have games this week scheduled at home on Thursday with North Mahaska, Friday at home with No. 15 (3A) Centerville and three games (Pella, Norwalk, Pella Christian) scheduled to be played on Saturday at the Oskaloosa Classic.
"We very well could be 6-0 right now, but the main thing is we have a lot of young kids that needed to play," Fenton said. "If our pitching holds up this year, we're going to be pretty tough."
Scott Jackson can be reached at sjackson@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter@CourierScott.
