HARRISBURG – It was a tough Saturday for the Creswell softball program as the Bulldogs had a doubleheader at No. 6 Harrisburg and lost 11-1 and 15-1. Head coach Scott Worsham is hoping the losses are a learning experience for a team that desperately needs experience. Creswell has 11 juniors, three freshmen, and no seniors. Losses like these can fuel the team, a team Worsham believes is worthy of making a second-consecutive playoff appearance.
“I think that we’re a state playoff worthy team, but we got to really get a lot better. We’re good, but we want to be great,” Worsham said after the Harrisburg losses. “It doesn’t feel good to get beat 11-1 and 15-1. I think we’re a lot better team than what we showed here today.”
Junior Hope Ukolove led the way for Creswell in the losses, striking out 6 in the first game and 3 in the second, while also getting two hits in the second loss. Fellow junior Ashelyn Sharkey had a great first game with 3 hits and 1 run.
Creswell now sits at 6-3 on the season, and is ranked #17 in Class 3A. State playoff worthy record and ranking, but the Harrisburg games were a part of Mountain Valley Conference play, where there’s little room for error. Only the top-three teams in the conference earn automatic playoff bids, and the Bulldogs want to grab one of those.
“This probably needs to be the last series we lose. We need to try to win every series, at least two out of three,” Worsham said. “We’re a team that can definitely find our spots, but we’re going to have to work to get better defensively. We’re gonna have to get better fielding the ball, making big plays defensively, and hitting the ball better.”
Outside of actually improving the team’s play, a big key for the team will be finding its identity, which can be tough without senior leadership.
“We don’t have any of the old seniors being leaders and helping lead the way. We’re trying to figure out who our junior leaders are, who can really take over and hold each other more accountable,” Worsham said.
Worsham knows what he wants the team’s identity to be, and he has faith that the team will get there.
“I think our identity just needs to be a really mentally tough team. We’re not there yet, but I think we’re gonna get there eventually,” he said.
