Marysville’s pitcher and first baseman Abby Christian steps into the batters box and connects on a Lady Cat pitch in a scrimmage against North Union earlier this week. The Lady Monarchs and the Lady Cats tied 8-8 after eight innings. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
North Union’s Jada Davis scoops a ground ball before launching it to first base in a scrimmage against Marysville. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
North Union senior Kayla Sedgwick rounds third base as she sprints for home plate. (Journal-Tribune photo by Aleksei Pavloff)
The Marysville and North Union softball teams got together on Wednesday for a scrimmage at North Union.
While not really concerned about the final score, both head coaches, Emily Clark of North Union and Jennifer Segner-Maxwell of Marysville, wanted to use the scrimmage toward a successful regular season.
“The more reps the better things are going to be for the girls,” Clark said. “We have to not take any scrimmage or the reps lightly.”
“You want to see how the players respond to situations, both offensively and defensively,” Segner-Maxwell said.
It was North Union’s third scrimmage of the spring while the Lady Monarchs were taking the field for the first time.
“This was our first scrimmage and we have to make decisions and see what happens when they are under pressure,” Segner-Maxwell said.
Much like they will be doing during the regular season, the Lady Cats are playing strong scrimmage opponents, including the likes of Hilliard Davidson and Delaware Hayes.
“We want to learn something from each scrimmage and game,” Clark said. “We will be facing pitchers that are more advanced. We want our team to get comfortable being uncomfortable.”
“We have a lot of questions and so far we have just been able to see our players in practice,” Segner-Maxwell said.
North Union went 20-7 last season and finished in first place of the Central Buckeye Conference’s Mad River Division while Marysville finished the 2021 campaign with a 23-3-2 mark.
North Union is scheduled to open the regular season at home against Kenton Ridge on Friday, April 1. Marysville will be playing in the Cal Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach the last week of March.