Cheyenne Central's offense gets traction during win over Cheyenne South

Apr. 9—CHEYENNE — Maya Driver had been scuffling at the plate through Cheyenne Central's first 11 games this spring.

The sophomore entered Tuesday afternoon's matchup with Cheyenne South batting just .071.

"It was a little bit of striking out and a little bit of hitting it right at people," Driver said.

Driver took a big step toward breaking out of her slump against the Bison, going 3-for-4 with a triple, a home run and four RBI to help Central pick up an 18-8 victory at the Cheyenne Junior League Baseball Complex.

"She was having fun in the box," Indians coach Carrie Barker said. "A lot of times, she overthinks and we've been talking to her about relaxing. She did that and it finally showed that she has a really good swing.

"I hope she takes this and goes into the weekend with a lot of confidence."

Driver credited her teammates with keeping her confidence up until she could get her bat going. She followed Tayvin Aragon's leadoff triple with one of her own to right-center field to give Central a 1-0 lead.

The Indians (4-8 overall, 1-4 East Conference) led 2-0 after three innings. Driver reached base on a fielding error to lea d off the fourth inning. She came around to score on Izzy Thomas' two-run single through the left side for a 4-0 lead. Thomas scored on an error, and Madi Birt scored on Bailey Martinez's triple to left for a 6-0 lead.

"My teammates have really been picking me up even though I haven't been hitting," Driver said. "I went to the plate (Tuesday) and heard them telling me, 'It's your time.' I guess it was my time.

"Knowing my teammates had my back really helped a lot."

The Bison (0-10, 0-5) had put balls into play against Central starter Izzy Kelly through the first three innings. That contact found holes in the fourth inning and helped South claw back into the contest.

Charleigh Mellish led off the frame with an infield single and advance to third when Rae Stanley hit a double off the bottom of the center field fence.

Mellish scored on Rachel Cooper's single up the middle to get South on the scoreboard. Joslyn Hockenberger drove Stanley home on a single to center, and Cooper scored on a throwing error to cut Central's lead to 6-3. Irene Madler looped an RBI single over the infield and into right to score Hockenberger and help the Bison start the fifth trailing just 6-4.

"My mindset was to keep it simple, just 'see the ball and hit the ball,'" said Stanley, who finished the game 2-of-4 with an RBI. "You can't overthink this sport or it will defeat you. We did a good job of hitting as a team, but we were hitting it right to people."

Central responded with six runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to take an 18-5 lead that helped them withstand one final push from the Bison.

"We stayed the course and were patient in the box," Barker said. "When we see people that have lots of spin on their (pitches), we think we have to go in there and take big, giant hacks. We started to stay disciplined and find some energy."

Kelly went the distance in the circle, striking out five and walking none.

"I don't really like to pitch because I think I'm way better in the outfield," said Kelly, who also added three hits and an RBI. "I've had to pitch a lot more than I've wanted to, but it's working out OK for us.

"One of my strong suits is throwing a lot of strikes. I don't have a lot of strikeouts, but I also don't have a lot of walks. I'm trying to help our defense out by giving hitters pitches to put in play instead of walking everyone or trying to strike everyone out."

Thomas added two hits, including a solo homer in the sixth. Birt, Martinez and Ariela Craven also had two hits for Central.

Mellish had three hits and two RBI for South. Alyssa Albaugh also added two hits.

"We just have to keep putting the barrel on the ball because it's going to find grass," South coach Curtis Quigley said. "Things will start working out in your favor if you keep putting the ball in play. We had the right approach from the beginning when Kaelin (VanTassell) took the first pitch she saw and drove it into center field.

"We have to keep showing up like that and playing with confidence. I'm proud of the girls because we're getting to balls defensively that we weren't getting to before. We'll start making those plays, but we've come a long way just this season."

Jeremiah Johnke is the WyoSports editor. He can be reached at jjohnke@wyosports.net or 307-633-3137. Follow him on X at @jjohnke.