Redbirds hold off Hornets; honor Seniors and Linder
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| The Linder family after Coach Linder was recognized pregame for his 300th career win, which occurred last Saturday. Pictured left to right are his daughters, Reagan and Morgan, and his wife, Kim. |
Metamora, Ill. - There was quite a bit to talk about before Wednesday's non-conference softball tilt between Metamora (5-5) and Eureka (4-5). For one, it was Senior Day, as the Redbirds honored Bri Tanksley, Anna Guzman, Kate LeMasters, and Alex Bishop with pregame festivities. Prior to that, Head Coach Deric Linder was recognized for having collected his 300th career win last Saturday.
The matchup against the Hornets provided the opportunity for Deric Linder to be in opposing dugouts to his daughter, Reagan. He said while it's certainly a great thing, you try to balance focusing on the game with well-wishes for her performance.
"You never really think about it. When you get out there between the lines, it's just playing against another team. You do want to see her succeed, and I'm glad she got that hit," the 15th-year head coach said.
As seen in the feature pitcure, family members were able to be on the field with Coach Linder for the pregame recognition of his 300th win, something he thought was special.
"It's nice. We've put a lot of time in. It's your family that really sacrifices a lot. They're the ones that let me do this."
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| Metamora Softball Seniors Tanskley, LeMasters, Guzman, Bishop |
After the pregame was complete, the Redbirds still proceeded to slug their way to a 9-2 lead after just two innings. RBI singles from Kayla Pacha and Alex Bishop charged a 4-run first.
Bishop would make quick work of the Hornets, only allowing a second-inning walk, then that once again gave way to the Redbird offense, with Bishop (2-RBI double) and Kate LeMasters (2-RBI single) leaving the home fans thinking this could be an abbreviated game once again (Redbirds won 14-4 on April 22nd).
Enter Hannah Martin. The Eureka relief pitcher would slice through the same lineup that had scored nine runs, shutting Metamora out all the way until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Coach Linder was quite impressed with Martin's efforts in the circle, while acknowledging it was a mixture of themselves and Martin's quality outing.
"She pitched very, very well, and that's what matters. We do have to be a little better coming out prepared."
But before that bottom of the sixth could even happen, the Hornets bats backed up the quality relief of Martin. A single and a groundout made it a 9-5 game. Just like that, it wasn't time to close the book on this one.
With the exception of a Hannah Tellor single, the Redbirds would get out otherwise. A chance for Eureka to inch even closer, and they did. Jayci Swords doubled to center field and scored Reagan Linder to make it 9-6. Unfortunately for the Hornets, that's where it stopped.
Metamora was able to add on some key insurance runs in the form of RBI singles from Katy Ramage and Kate LeMasters to set the 11-6 final score.
Alex Bishop was able to capitalize in the circle on her senior night, striking out 11 Eureka batters on 147 pitches. Sydney Trentman got a strikeout as well in an inning of relief work.
The Redbirds are in the midst of a scheduled run of five games in five days. One could easily think it's not that big of a deal, considering the lengthy scheduling that is travel softball. However, as Coach Linder notes, there's a different dynamic when you're playing for your school.
"This is different than travel ball. Travel ball, you got an hour and a half time limit, nobody pitches the full game. Here, you have to get through seven innings, numerous at-bats. We've got to grind out and get at-bats. We've got to make sure our second pitcher is ready, our second catcher is ready, our second everything's ready."
Day three of that stretch is tomorrow, when Metamora travels to take on Mid-Illini foe Pekin (4:30pm first pitch). The Dragons and Redbirds split the season series in 2019, with the road teams winning each time.
Note: Below is a portion of what was read for each senior player for Senior Night, for those that weren't able to attend today's game.
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