By Jeremy McDonald
jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
DALLAS, Ore.– Ever so often Dallas High School Senior Maddie Doig can be found the dugout, or a practice, of the Lady Dragons 14U squad at the Lyle Sports Complex.
The young Dallas-squad Monday afternoon returned to their home grounds where they played so many games before this Summer and Fall, facing the same NW Bullets 14U squad that they played back at the end of August. And once during the opening inning of the 6-5 Bullets win, Doig was yelling from inside the dugout trying to direct an outfield throw to the infield for the young Dragons squad coming up through the ranks.
“It’s super nice. It’s nice to going to their games and then have them come watch us play because there’s so many great girls on our team too,” said Doig, who played left field and was 0-for-1 for the NW Bullets-Campos Monday Night. “I love doing it, I love all those girls and I hope they appreciate the time I dedicate because I love them and I love being at their practices and helping them out.
“Even though I can’t always come to their games, it’s nice to be there and help them out.”
Through the first five innings of the Dragons and Bullets game, the Dragons built themselves a nice little 5-1 lead on their opposition on Field 3. Certainly a far turnaround from the 15-3 Bullets win on August 23 across the way on Field 4 of the complex.
“I think we improved a lot. Overtime we’ve got better, we’ve been practicing more, worked harder and got better as a team,” said Gracie Walls. “It was a really good learning experience. Different teams play different styles and it’s good to play different teams. But if you play a team over-and-over again, you can improve on how that person, that team, plays and get better.”
Walls (1-for-2 hitting) and Kennedy Stein (2-for-2 hitting) both drove in 2RBI’s each in the start. Taya Younk drove in the other RBI in the first inning for the Dragons. Kadence Morrison, who has been playing with the Dragons 16’s squad, struck out five in five innings against the Bulletes before handing it off to Ava Woods in the sixth inning.
In the sixth inning however, the NW Bullets had rallied. Scoring seven unanswered to stun and put a damper on a strong game that the Lady Dragons had Friday afternoon at Lyle.
“Keep our attitude up. We started taking it down (in the sixth)…but we still tried hard. We don’t want to start calming down and they start to lead,” said Walls.
The Dragons 14U are back at it Saturday afternoon at Dallas High School for a 3pm first-pitch against the 14U NW Bullets Lewis squad. The Lady Dragons 16U’s play a doubleheader Sunday at Dallas High School starting at 10:30 with the second game scheduled at 12:30pm.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
