Despite playing just a dozen lopsided games this season, the second-ranked Bainbridge softball team is ready for Tuesday’s state championship rematch with Holy Names.
“The girls have been focused, and they’ve stayed focused, and they’re just ready to start playing some real games and get out of this five-inning situation,” coach Liz McCloskey said.
Bainbridge (13-1, 11-0 in Metro), the defending state champion, will play sixth-ranked Holy Names (14-2 overall, 14-0 in Metro) Tuesday at home and Wednesday on the road.
“There’ll be a little bit of excitement there,” McCloskey said. “I think the girls are looking forward to it.”
The teams split their league contests last season. Bainbridge lost the first game, 2-1, at home but rebounded to pull out the road win, 1-0.
Bainbridge won the title game 6-2.
“They want to get (Holy Names) on their home field at the high school and prove to them that it wasn’t a fluke that we beat them in the finals – that we are that good,” McCloskey said.
Holy Names returned several players, McCloskey said, but is still a young team.
Senior Haylee Baker will pitch on Tuesday, McCloskey said.
“Based off of that game, and how we do offensively behind Haylee, we’ll determine whether she goes a second game,” McCloskey said.
McCloskey could also call on senior Lauren Reichert (4-1) or sophomore Hailey Willmann (3-0) on Wednesday.
“We’re right where we need to be and we’re right where we needed to be defensively,” McCloskey said. “I think we’ve got a solid starting nine or 10 early on. We’ve settled into our nine starters and we like what we see.”
Holy Names holds the top spot in the Metro Mountain Division, with Bainbridge in second.
Baseball
The Spartans’ back-to-back games against state champion O’Dea will play a role in the team’s post-season chances.
Bainbridge, which will host the state champs Tuesday, hasn’t faced O’Dea since the state final. O’Dea defeated Bainbridge 10-3.
Bainbridge is currently fifth in the Metro-Mountain Division with O’Dea in fourth.
The top four teams from each division will
