Vondrak, Carson softball shut out Wooster

Vondrak, Carson softball shut out Wooster

BY MIKE HOUSER

Appeal Sports Writer

Carson pitching coach Bob Carvin would love nothing better than to see laid-back pitcher Cassie Vondrak add a little more attitude to her ever-increasing repertoire, maybe picturing the junior with a snarl on her face amid the backdrop of Alice Cooper's soundtrack "No More Mr. Guy."

"She's always got a smile on her face," Carvin said following the Senators' 6-0 victory over the Wooster Colts Thursday at Carson High School. "If I could get her mean, with the heart of a lion...she's easy-going. If you hear me screaming, I get a little goofy sometimes. Go for the jugular now."

Vondrak -who ended up striking out six, allowing three hits and two walks in going the distance - got off to a strong start. She went through the first 10 batters before allowing her first walk and made it to the fifth inning before surrendering her first hit.

"We've been working on a lot of different pitches," Carvin said. "She has two more pitches this year (the drop ball and the rise ball). She's not afraid to use them. She's got to keep them off-balance. If the rise ball isn't working, it's an easy ball to hit.

"Today she had the drop ball dialed in pretty good - the drop ball in. She thinks speed is everything. But later in the game, when the batters have seen you three times, they'll start to figure you out. We (Carvin, Vondrak and fellow pitchers Nikki Keller and Daria Leid) all get along great. They just have to believe in me more."

Wooster, now 3-12-1 overall and 0-3 in the Sierra League, started to find the range with two out in the seventh inning. Ayden Finau and Jordin Suh each singled before pitcher Jessica Rasmussen drew a walk to load the bases.

If Vondrak was beginning to have confidence issues, she put them to rest when she forced Aldine Hobbs to ground out to second to preserve her shutout and improve Carson to 8-5, 1-3.

"It's good to get that one under our belt, coming off (three losses to) Douglas," said fourth-year Carson coach Scott Vickrey. "(Vondrak) was almost perfect today. It was 3 1/2 innings before she let anyone on. She mixed up her pitches well. We did a pretty good job of knocking them down to help her out. (Freshman right fielder) Elizabeth Cagle fired everyone up."

Cagle robbed Kaitlyn Heywood of a hit in the top of the second, making a diving basket-catch and allowing Carson to keep its momentum after a three-run first inning.

Keller led the Senators' attack, going 3-for-3 and scoring two runs. She doubled in Abby Rankl to give Carson a 1-0 lead in the first, and ripped an RBI double to center field in the sixth to again score Rankl and round out the scoring.

"We were a lot more disciplined at the plate than we have been," Vickrey said. "Hopefully we can continue that over the weekend (in a Saturday doubleheader at Wooster). We weren't mistake free, but we were a lot better than we were on Saturday (against Douglas)."

Keller scored on a passed ball and Rankl followed her to the plate on a throwing error by Colts catcher Megan Moran to make it 3-0 in favor of Carson in the first.

The Senators added two more runs in the third. Keller scored on Loretta Cagle's fielder's choice and Vondrak came home on a Belen Munoz fielder's choice.

Wooster's Rasmussen, a junior, went the distance, allowing six runs (two earned), nine hits and three walks. She also struck out six.

"Jessica was throwing really well," said fifth-year Colts coach Tanya Gamble. "The rest of the team is really young. We've been concentrating on our defense. The majority of our infield and outfield are freshmen and sophomores. We're trying to get them used to playing varsity-level ball in a hurry.

"We didn't have the answer at the plate today. That didn't help us at all."

Finau went 2-for-3 to lead Wooster.

Rankl scored two runs and finished 2-for-4, while Vondrak and third baseman Krista Mattice each went 1-for-3. Vondrak also scored two runs.

Carson and Wooster will play their 10 a.m. twinbill on Saturday at Wooster High School.

CHS JVS 4, WOOSTER 2

Natalie Morrow retired all nine batters she faced, striking out six to pick up the save for Carson (4-0 in the Sierra League). Winning pitcher Christina Gallegos allowed two hits while striking out five over four innings. Elayna Shine had three doubles, two RBI and two runs, Breanna Perry and Ashley Saarem each had a hit, run and an RBI and Lauren Knorzer added a hit for CHS.