ORANGE PARK - The Orange Park Raider softball team (2-5) got off to a rocky start on Thurs., Feb. 23 when they allowed the Sandalwood Saints a first inning bunt that pushed the runner all the way to …
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ORANGE PARK - The Orange Park Raider softball team (2-5) got off to a rocky start on Thurs., Feb. 23 when they allowed the Sandalwood Saints a first inning bunt that pushed the runner all the way to third base. By the end of the inning, Sandalwood had the lead 1-0. That would be the last time the Raiders would allow any runs and use only six innings to put the Saints back on the bus, besting them 12-1. Orange Park lost their next two; an 11-0 mess to Clay and a 5-2 loss to Fletcher, before returning to the W column with a 2-1 win over Pedro Menendez on Tues., Feb. 28.
“The team has been on a bad ride the last three games,” said Raiders assistant coach Paul Marsh. “We’ve been beating ourselves, making errors, pitching’s been there, but we’ve just been killing ourselves on the field.”
The speech seemed to stop the slide as Orange Park came up and the bats were on fire. Sandalwood had a great fastball pitcher which was just what the Doctor ordered. When done, Orange Park score two home runs from Cameryn Herrera and Addyson Mauldin, and brought in a total of five before Sandalwood brought in a new pitcher and retired the inning. The third inning saw Orange Park bring a runner in after a wild pitch, bringing the score to 6-1.
The sixth inning was astounding as Orange Park put the first three batters on base to load it up. Sandalwood walked the next batter bringing the score to 7-1. After a Sandalwood error and an overthrow to home to make it 10-1, Orange Park still had runners in scoring positions and no outs. With nothing to lose, Sandalwood tried out pitcher number three. She would have nothing for the Raider’s batting line up and the Raiders scored two more runs to call it an early night in 6 innings. “Great hitting, this is what this team is capable of doing," said Marsh. "They have to believe in themselves. When they believe in themselves, good things happen."
Against Clay on Fri., Feb. 24, Orange Park registered 10 errors. Enough said in the 11-0 loss.
Against Fletcher on Mon., Feb. 27, Raider pitcher Madison Dettman went seven innings, but only scored three strikeouts against the red hot Senators bats. Fletcher held a 3-2 lead until the fifth inning where the Senators put across the final two.
The Raiders scored first in the first inning with consecutive singles from Kayla Saunders, Ramsey Phillips and Dettmann before Mauldin hit a grounder that allowed Saunders to score. Fletcher answered in the second with a single, an error and a two run double to take the lead.
In the second, Orange Park got a double to centerfield from Carrington Robinson and a single from Samantha Tenga to score the game 2-2.
A single, a double and a shortstop error from Herrera scored one more Fletcher, 3-2.
Both teams held for two innings before Fletcher scored off a double and single for the final 5-2 score.
Next: March 2 at Keystone Heights, March 7 vs. Ridgeview, March 9 vs. Ed White, March 10 at Fleming Island