Dayton, WP 1-1 at Jamboree

PRESCOTT -- High spirits, warm weather and a semi-sunny afternoon made for an ideal kickoff to high school softball season at Saturday's Jamboree between Waitsburg, Dayton and Touchet. Teams played three innings each and took advantage of the non- league event to try players in new positions and get a feel for the upcoming season.

First up was WP against Touchet. Touchet was ahead 2-0 at the end of in­nings one and two, but WP pulled out a win, scoring four points in the bottom of the third inning. Next, Day­ton faced WP. The teams were 0-0 in inning one, with Dayton scoring one point each in inning two and three to end the game 2-0, Dayton. Finally, Dayton faced Touchet, falling be­hind 5-1 in the first inning, but gaining momentum to end the second inning 5-3, Touchet. Inning three ended with Touchet 6, Dayton 3.

"We only had two start­ing players from last year's team on the field so the other girls made their first varsity starts today," said WP Coach Angie Potts. "Overall, I thought it went pretty well. We made a cou­ple of mistakes that I would say were based on inexperi­ence and certainly things the girls will learn from. We need to work more on hitting and being aggres­sive at the plate rather than being satisfied with making contact."

The Lady Bulldogs had Lexus Ward pitch and Tay­lor Frame catch in all three innings against Waitsburg. "The girls played pretty good defense and had a few hits," said Assistant Coach Desirae Jones. Savannah McFarland was pitcher with Torry Johnson catch­ing in the game against Touchet. "Touchet was able to hit the ball a little better than us and they ran the bases well," said Jones. "Overall, it was a success­ful day. It's always exciting to get on the field for the first time and see what the team is going to do."

Dayton will head to Athena for a single St. Pat­rick's Day varsity game at 4 p.m. on Monday, March 17. "They showed a lot of potential. This is going to be a fun season," said Jones.

WP plays their first game against Mac-Hi in Prescott at 3 p.m. Tuesday. "We'll be looking to improve our mental game, anticipating what plays we need to make in different situations, com­munication and getting to the plate with the intent of getting on base or scoring a base runner," said Potts.