win streak after knocking out ….
win streak after knocking out the Cardinals, but the Adams-Friendship Green Devils had other ideas on Monday.
Abby/Colby found itself on the road, but the unfamiliar setting did nothing to dampen their skills, with the co-op turning in a strong effort on the mound.
“I am pleased with our pitching,” head coach Ryan Bargender said. “We haven’t been giving up many earned runs. We’ve been working on throwing more strikes and getting ahead early in the count.”
It certainly wasn’t the pitching that let Abby/Colby down on Monday in Adams Brandon Diedrich pitched six innings, striking out six and only walked two batters and gave up just three hits.
Instead, it was the hitting that let Abby/Colby down as the co-op failed to generate big shot, and the Green Devils held the co-op to one hit.
“We have gotten better at putting the ball in play the last two games and cutting down on strikeouts,” Bargender said. “At times we’ve been pressing, trying too hard to get key hits. We just need to trust ourselves and let hits happen. We’ve got very capable hitters.”
The co-op put pressure on the Green Devils, early on thanks to a run by Cade Faber, but Faber would be the only member of the co-op to pick up a hit, and the Green Devils only gave up two walks.
That was nearly enough to lead the coop to victory. Abby/Colby was rock solid on defense, holding the Green Devils, scoreless through six innings.
“Our best defensive game this season was last night versus Adams-Friendship. They are a very solid D-2 team.”
That inability to tack on more runs came back to haunt the co-op, and the Green Devils rallied for a two run spurt that gave them the victory and dropped Abby/Colby to 9-4 on the year.
It was another test for the co-op, and the non-conference loss stings, but Bargender saw plenty to like, and hopes that the hitting catches up to the co-op’s pitching in the coming weeks.
“We’ve played some very good competition the past week and a half. Overall, we just want to keep improving each day and peak come playoff time.”
