Springs Valley Community High School

Coming into Friday evening’s matchup with Crawford County, the Springs Valley softball team desperately needed an offensive spark. The Blackhawks had scored five runs in a season-opening win over Forest Park, but had managed just five runs on six hits in the two games since. After losing to Southridge and Perry Central by a combined 17 runs, the Blackhawks got granular in their analysis of what they’ve been doing at the plate and it paid dividends. Against Crawford County, they exploded for a dozen runs in a 12-2 victory. “Tonight was really needed. Our bats finally came alive, we finally started hitting,” Springs Valley coach Jill Stephens said. “That’s all we’ve done all week is hit. We’ve constantly worked on some of the issues that we’re having at the plate. We broke down a lot of their swings and I think we’ve maybe solved some of our problems.” On top of the extra analysis, Stephens also put some pressure on her players. Ahead of Friday’s outing, she told them that changes would have to be made if they weren’t able to produce at the plate and they responded. “I told the girls that we may need to shake things up because what we were doing wasn’t working for whatever reason,” Stephens said. “Tonight was basically a graded performance and I was going to see who was going to do what we need in each role that we have. I told them tonight would determine who’s going to be in the batting lineup next week.” Emri Allen had a particularly strong response against Crawford County. After picking up two hits in the Blackhawks’ first three games combined, the senior had her hardest hit of the season for a double, stealing a base, driving in two runs, and scoring two more herself in the process. “She’s one of them that we broke down. She’s been making contact, but it hasn’t been good, solid contact,” Stephens said. “We stopped and looked at her stance, talked about her swing, and it was evident tonight that she’s put in the work that’s needed to have those big hits.” Springs Valley (2-2, 1-1 PLAC) will try to build on what they accomplished against Crawford County during a busy week. On Monday they play Class 1A No. 2 Barr-Reeve, then Tuesday they travel to Class 1A No. 10 Northeast Dubois, and on Thursday they’ll get a visit from always-dangerous West Washington. “I want the girls to remember how they felt at Perry, but remember how they felt tonight when the bats were hot, the defense was good, and everything was working,” Stephens said. “We have to remember how that felt when things weren’t working because we’ve got to keep pushing and being aggressive just like we were tonight.” BLACKHAWKS 12, WOLFPACK 2 CRAWFORD COUNTY;|;SPRINGS VALLEY ;AB;R;H;BI;|;;AB;R;H;BI Sturgeon p;3;1;0;0;|;Buchanan ss;4;1;1;3 Bockling cf;3;1;1;0;|;Kluesner 1b;4;1;1;1 Vincent 1b;1;0;0;0;|;Hickman p;4;0;1;1 Howell ss;3;0;1;1;|;Dalton lf;2;2;1;0 Wheatley 3b;2;0;1;1;|;McNeely 3b;1;2;0;0 Eason rf;3;0;1;0;|;Sylvester ph;1;0;0;0 Ashley 2b;2;0;0;0;|;Allen cf;4;2;1;2 Kerce lf;2;0;0;0;|;Tucker rf;2;2;0;0 Boone c;3;0;0;0;|;Rowlett ph-rf;1;0;0;1 |Bonta 2b;2;2;2;1 |;Pantoja c;0;0;0;0 |;Farris ph;1;0;0;0 |;Robison cr;0;0;0;0 Totals;22;2;4;2;|;Totals;26;12;7;9 Crawford County (0-4);001;100—2 Springs Valley (2-2);105;411—12 E: Crawford County 7, Springs Valley 0.. LOB: Crawford County 9, Springs Valley 8. 2B: Allen, Dalton. 3B: Kluesner, Bonta. SB: Buchanan 3, Bonta 3, Tucker 2, Dalton 2, Robison 2, Allen, Hickman. Bockting. ;;IP;H;R;ER;BB;SO Crawford County;Sturgeon (0-1);5.1;7;12;9;9;3 Springs Valley;Hickman (2-2);6.0;4;2;2;6;12 HBP: Ashley (by Hickman). WP: Sturgeon 3.