Lady Bulldogs are showing a killer mentality
By Hayden Frampton
Sports Editor
Minco softball seems to be on a mission after the week they’ve had.
With four games on the schedule the Lady Bulldogs outscored all opponents 48-3. Their record now sits at 19-2 with no signs of slowing up just yet.
A team that was expected to be somewhat unfamiliar to the game, Minco is in full force right now with no signs of slowing down.
“It’s pretty awesome to watch,” coach Jason Little said. “These girls are surprising even themselves sometimes, what they’re accomplishing. We just don’t really have a hole in the batting line up, our pitchers are pitching well, and I can finally see that we’re prepared and ready for the next opponent to get in front of us, I can see it in their eyes.
“A light went off at some point and they’re starting to believe they’re a good ball club and they’re taking care of each other. That’s what makes great teams.”
Bray-Doyle hosted the Lady Bulldogs on Aug. 27th but were shut down quickly. Minco made it a three-inning game winning 14-1.
Their next game against District opponent Dibble was the only one that went the full seven innings. Minco won 8-1 with help from Carly Herndon’s 11 strikeouts in the contest.
Elmore City-Pernell faced almost no chance of competing with the Lady Bulldogs. Though the two teams were tied 1-1 after the first, Minco’s bats came alive and they scored 15 in the second. With no answer, the Lady Badgers lost 16-1 in two and a half innings.
Heading into their final game of the week Friday against Ninnekah there were some nerves about the inconsistency of their opponent. Some nights the Lady Owls were no threat and others they were just as good as any. But against Minco they couldn’t make anything work.
The Lady Bulldogs shut out Ninnekah 10-0 in four innings. Herndon pitched in the circle giving up two hits but striking out five.
“I was a little scared of Ninnekah, they’ve got a really tough team, they’ll go out and play somebody really well and then they won’t play well so you always expect to get their best, but you just don’t know which team is going to show up with them but they’re capable of beating anybody,” Little said. “It was six to nothing in the second and we were just like sharks, we saw blood in the water and we just turned it on.”
Defense and offense, the Lady Bulldogs look to be a top team in Class 2A. To this point in the season they have two players batting over .500, Ceiley McComas (.593) and Maddy Munn (.536) and high batting averages keep coming throughout the roster. Herndon is hitting .483, Taylen Redinger is at .429, and Cassidy Franklin averages .359.
The high batting numbers are only just a part of what has made Minco so dominate. Their product on the field begins in their heads with a killer’s mentality.
“It’s nice when you show up and people say, ‘oh no, it’s Minco,’” said Little. “That’s the mentality our girls thrive on is when teams think that they can’t beat us, or they think they can or have played really well, we just have to go out and do what we do and, usually, it turns out really well for us.”
Minco will be taking it easy this week after playing 11 games in the past two weeks. This week they play just two, with the Verden game happening Tuesday and a big game on Thursday.
Dibble comes to town Sept. 6th for a game that could clinch districts for Minco if they win. The game begins at 6 p.m.
Thanks for the great write up! I appreciate you taking the time to give props to a 2a team.