Prep softball: Aggressive Knights steal win against Palmer

PALMER - Desi Diselrod is a go-getter according to the Knight's softball coach Mike Stewart.

&#8220She's aggressive, and hustles on every play,” Stewart said of the left-handed Colony shortstop. &#8220She's the spark plug that gets us going.”

Diselrod struggled as she watched four straight pitches sail just wide of the plate for a lead off walk to start the Knights' game against the Palmer Moose Tuesday at the Ken Soule Ballfield in Palmer. But her patience paid off. She earned the base on balls, with the first run of the game, Diselrod set up a 6-0 win over the Moose.

&#8220That was so hard,” Diselrod said of watching four straight pitches fly past. &#8220But the goal is to get on base where we can make things happen.”

Her stay on first was short. She stole second base, and then moved to third when a Geneva Ratcliff pitch got past catcher Elyse Frohling.

&#8220Aggressive base running is a big part of our game,” Stewart said. &#8220We want to force our opponent to make a play, or rather make a mistake which we can capitalize on.”

By taking a few extra steps off of third base, Diselrod was able to create Colony's first run. Diselrod's big lead distracted Ratcliff long enough for the Palmer pitcher to lose sight of the catcher's throw back to the mound after Ratcliff stuck out Colony's Hannah Wheeler. As the ball rolled into center field, Diselrod trotted home.

That run would be all the Knights would need as Wheeler pitched six shutout innings.

But it's not all the Colony offense would produce.

Krystal Dillow scored in the second inning after advancing to third on an errant throw. She created the opportunity by stealing second base. Dillow slid under Frohling's tag giving Colony a 2-0 lead.

Diselrod was at it again in the fifth, stealing two bases before being driven in by Michelle Stratton. With two strikes and two outs in the sixth inning, Stratton doubled to score Janet Magers and Jonna Dompier. Ashley Yoder also scored in the inning.

The Knights aggressive style of play also paid dividends on defense when Kristen Coan made a diving catch to rob Palmer's Katie Stratton of a single in the fifth inning.

&#8220That was definitely the play of the game,” Stewart said. &#8220That would have been their second hit of the inning but Kristen (Coan) not only took that away from them, but she also took away any momentum they had.”

Inspired by the catch, Wheeler retired the next four Palmer batters to preserve the shutout and give the Knight's their first win of the

season.

&#8220She just kept us on our heels in the batter's box,” Palmer coach Ernie Diamond said. &#8220We were getting on base, but we just couldn't bring in a run. We must have left a dozen runners stranded on base.”

On two occasions the Moose managed to load the bases only to allow Wheeler off the hook.

&#8220We just need to work on getting thing done and taking advantage of the opportunities when we have them,” Diamond said. Colony did that and we didn't.”

Contact Darrell L. Breese at 352-2267 or darrell.breese@frontiersman.com

Colony 6, Palmer 0

Colony 110 130 - 6 9 1

Palmer 000 000 - 0 6 2

Pitching - Colony: Wheeler and Stein, Haralson(5). Palmer: G. Ratcliff and Frohling. W - Wheeler. L - Ratcliff. 2B - Diselrod.