Longhorns Keep Heads High After Season-Opener Loss

BALLWIN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION — As far as first games of the year go, Monday’s girls varsity softball season opener wasn’t at all what Parkway West High head coach Jeff Chazen hoped it would be when his Lady Longhorns arrived at the Ballwin Athletic Association on Monday.

The new-look West squad, which is made up of several new players and underclassmen from last year, fell behind early and just never recovered, in what proved to be an 11-1 loss to Fort Zumwalt East High.

“You gotta give (Fort Zumwalt East starting pitcher Nikki Taylor) credit,” Chazen said. “First game of the year, and we’ve got to face a hard thrower like her. And she was really bringing it. Later on in the year, I’d hoped we would give her a little bit better game. But to her credit, she really threw a great game against us.”

Taylor had an all-conference season playing outfield as sophomore for the Lady Lions in 2010, while also working as the team’s No. 2 starting pitcher behind all-conference hurler Chelsea Smith.

On Monday, Taylor, now a hard-firing junior proved she’s more than ready to take over the role as ace of Zumwalt East’s pitching staff.

“What a fantastic start,” East head coach Steve Loutzenhiser said. “We got just what we expected with Nikki on the mound. Ten strikeouts in her first game, she really threw a great game today.”

Officially, Taylor pitched a five-inning complete game and struck out 10 Lady Longhorn batters.

The only blemishes on her effort were the two walks she allowed to West freshman Kennedy Frank and single basehits she gave up to sophomore Emily Rapp and junior Jessica Wotruba.

Frank scored West’s only run on a groundball out in the fourth inning by Rapp.

“I think we did have some girls that were a little nervous,” Chazen said. “So we’ll talk about what we need to do better, and we’ll come out tomorrow ready to play.”

Taylor also had a big day at the plate for East, with two hits and two RBIs, including line-shot triple in the second inning that gave the Lady Lions a 5-0 lead.

The Zumwalt East star also played a big role in her squad’s first runs of the day, when she dunked a single into rightfield, then stole second and took third on a wild pitch, before crossing the plate on a hit by junior Kristin Mikel.  

The other hitting star for the Lady Lions was senior catcher Anna Bowden.

She had three hits and drove in East’s second run on a double over the leftfielder’s head.

“She’s our rock,” Loutzenhiser said. “This is her fourth year on varsity, so she’s no stranger to pressure, no stranger to performance. She’s gonna have a great season for us, I’m sure.”

Both teams will continue play at the B.A.A. throughout the week, before beginning regular season play next week.

East will host its first home game of the season at 4:15 p.m., on Monday, August 29, against Hazelwood Central High, while West’s first home game is set for Friday, September 2, when the Lady Longhorns will host Westminster Christian Academy, also at 4:15 p.m.