06/03/2026
Lady Jackets 1(LJ1) took on Lady Jackets 2(LJ2) last night in their first action of the season. Due to end of school year/sports activities and weather( we love the rain! But the tumbleweed tornados were crazy!), practices have been few and far between. As a result, the pitching wasn’t on point. I have no doubt that as our brief season(1 month long) progresses, the pitching will come around.
There were many positives in the game despite the lack of practice. Lady Jackets 2 is made up of the younger girls(13-15) while Lady Jackets 1 features the veterans(16-18). For the 13 year olds, fast pitch is new this season. Growing pains are expected. All in all I thought the 13-15 year olds did a good job of putting the ball in play and fielding the ball. Kenzley Copenhaver had a nice stop at 2nd for an out and McKenzie Rodenberg,Kyra Rush, and Brylee Bearcub combined for a nice relay from deep left field to throw out the runner at 3rd. Mariah Lewis and Iyerlee Paulson handled the pitching for Lady Jackets 2
Lady Jackets 1 (16-18) were a bit frustrated overall as they expected to start the season in mid season form. However that’s not way sports usually work. As we begin to ramp up the practice and game schedule I’m sure they’ll be in mid season form before they know it. Marley Moran, one of the aces of the league, maybe thee ace, pitched the first two innings. She started strong then the control faltered. She recovered in the second inning with a 1-2-3 inning thanks to Mattie Azure catching a line drive at short stop and flipping it to Anna Matejovsky at 2nd on the heads up cover as the runner had strayed too far away from the base. Makenzie Jackson got her season off to a hot start with a homerun(inside the park) on her very first pitch of the season. I believe her exact words upon returning to the dugout were, “oh my God that’s a sexy bat!” That was in
reference to the new Spring Break Ghost bat purchased thanks to the donations of WPCO and Hoopfest! Makenzie later took a pitch deep to left field off the fence only to be thrown out at third by the aforementioned great relay. We welcomed Anna Matejovsky(she took last summer off for wrestling) back by promptly putting her behind the plate sporting the new top of the line catchers gear purchased thanks to our donors again! Riley Schwarzrock(our only 18 year old by league standards) also returned from last years injury. Riley played First base, pitched and played third base. Makenzie Jackson finished off the night pitching for the Lady Jackets 1. She also played 3 positions on the night.
The final score was LJ1-18, LJ2-13. It was a great way to start the season, facing each other. A number of girls were able to play multiple positions on the night which is great for them to get those reps and great for the coaching staffs to have that positional flexibility! We have many talented athletes! Good job families!
The next game for Lady Jackets 1 will be Friday night(7pm) in Plentywood vs PW2. Lady Jackets 2 will play next Tuesday in Culbertson.
