It was an up and down week for Nation Ford

It wasn’t always pretty, but the Nation Ford Falcons softball team got the job done, winning their home opener 10-6 over Providence Day.

The Falcons ended the week with a 4-3 record after losing 8-5 in extra innings to York. Nation Ford went 3-2 in the Pee Dee Pitchoff tournament to open the season.

Against Providence Day, Nation Ford gave up the early lead in the top of the first inning, but the way the game went, the Falcons were able to answer back just about every time they came to bat while on the losing end. Despite that, head coach Michael Kidd said he knows his team can play better.

“Defensively, this is not Falcon softball for us,” Kidd said.

“We are better than we showed. We just took a mental lapse. We relaxed and made errors we normally wouldn’t typically make. We need to get better defensively if we are going to compete in the region.”

Nation Ford started Mackenzie Gaston, who went the distance for the Falcons and also pitched later in the week against York. After giving up the opening inning run to Providence Day, Gaston was able to settle down for the most part giving up the occasional hit, but never really getting herself in a jam. Until the seventh inning that is, but even then, she was able to work out of it.

The Falcons came back in the second inning and scored a run off two hits from Katie Stahl and Emma Starkey to tie the game. Nation Ford took the lead in the third inning off hits from Sarah Riehle and Madison Arnold as the Falcons gained the lead and did not look back.

Turning point

Leading 5-3 in the fifth inning, the Falcons’ bats came alive as they scored five runs on three hits and two walks to bust the game open. Arnold and Alissa Illacqua both walked to lead off the inning and Starkey drove in Arnold and Janelle Illacqua drove in Alissa Illacqua. Chanel Turner then drove in both Amaya Hush, running for Starkey, and Janelle Illacqua, all before the first out of the inning.

Critical

Despite the mental errors, Nation Ford was able to bounce back from every punch Providence Day cast its way. In doing so, the Falcons were able to get the lead and keep it with the help of some timely hitting throughout the game. The Falcons’ play at the plate made up for their play in the field as they made a couple errors in the game to go along with some mental mistakes that upset Kidd.

Star contributions

Gaston pitched a complete game, allowing six runs on 11 hits, while striking out six batters and walking just one. Starkey went 3-4 at the plate with a double and two RBI, while Turner and Riehle both went 2-4 at the place. Turner drove in two runs as did Jordyn Williams, who went 1-4 in the game.

On deck

Nation Ford has a long week ahead with four games in four days. They play at Piedmont and Providence Day and host Clover and Marvin Ridge in between the road games.

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 6:58 PM with the headline "It was an up and down week for Nation Ford."