Magruder Beats Weather, Falls To Paint Branch

The Magruder softball team played through near-freezing temperatures, wind and rain Wednesday afternoon. And while they persevered through the weather, the one thing they couldn't combat was the offense of Paint Branch, who they fell to 19-6.

The game started out poorly for Magruder. Paint Branch jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after two innings. A mixture of well-hit balls and miscues, some due to the slick surface, contributed to the early lead.

Despite the early lead, Magruder (0-4) chipped away at the lead. In the sixth inning they cut it to the closest score of the game, 10-6, led by a two RBI double by senior Kristy Kimball. However, Paint Branch scored nine runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away.

“The girls kept fighting and never gave up,” Magruder coach Ed Hendrickson said. “They could've easily given up early on but they kept scrapping, and playing one play at a time.”

What started as a simply cold afternoon got uglier as the game progressed. Rain picked up at times, which made the ground and balls slick. This caused some very odd hops, or lack of hops, in the outfield when the ball hit the slick surface, and also caused more throwing errors than usual due to the wet balls. This led to several runs on both sides.

“The weather certainly took the fun out of the game,” Hendrickson said. “There were wet balls, and everyone was very cold, and might have been slightly slower than usual in the field.”

While the final score made the game seem lopsided, Hendrickson was proud of the way his team played.

“Even though the score doesn't reflect it, the girls played well today,” Hendrickson said. “They supported each other and were able to pick each other up, it just didn't go their way.”

Magruder will try to pick up their first win of the season at Sherwood at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.