By MATT SIEGER | msieger@thereporter.com | Vacaville ReporterPUBLISHED: May 12, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. | UPDATED: May 13, 2021 at 3:07 p.m.
It was no surprise that Vacaville Christian High School pitcher Emerson Meggers and catcher Macy Webb were the stars in the Falcons’ 13-10 softball win over visiting Golden Sierra on Tuesday afternoon.
They are the only two returning players on the squad, and eight of the Falcons never even put a mitt on until this season.
“They are captains on our team,” said VCS head coach George Everett. “They lead by example. I use them both for coaching the new girls.”
The coaching appears to be working, as the supporting cast did quite well in the victory that gave the Falcons a 2-1 record in Sierra Delta League play, while the Grizzlies slipped to 1-2.
Meggers is normally a middle infielder and has not pitched since she was 10 years old.
“We have all new players except for these two,” Everett said. “And we have two others who have played when they were 8U and Bobby Sox. So by proxy she (Meggers) is our starting pitcher. Mainly it’s her heart that keeps her out on the mound.”
Meggers completed the game and, although she allowed ten runs, including a four-run uprising by the Grizzlies in the sixth inning, she persevered in the circle on a blistering hot day. It was especially impressive in that both she and Webb are just getting over being sick.
“I was getting a little hot and tired but I know how to finish,” Meggers said.
She allowed 11 hits but struck out 17 batters of the 21 outs recorded. In the second inning she pitched out of a bases-loaded jam by striking out three consecutive batters. She also worked her way out of the tough sixth inning with two consecutive strikeouts and a groundball out.
Her battery mate, Webb, has seen Meggers on better days.
“Normally she is really on top of it and every single inning is usually just boom, three at-bats and done,” said Webb. “But both of us are pretty tired. We’ve been sick. So a little bit slow today.”
Webb wasn’t slow in an exciting play in the bottom of the third. After blasting a double that bounced off the fence in left field, she advanced to third on a Meggers single. When Ainsley Smith hit a hard ground ball to third, Webb found herself caught off the bag. She tried to head home but slipped and fell to the ground.
“I thought I was definitely out on that one because I tripped,” she said. “I thought that was a for sure out. I thought they were right behind me with the ball.”
What made her get up?
“My coach and everyone yelling at me,” she said with a laugh.
Webb then managed to stay in the pickle long enough to force an errant throw as she scampered home with the run. Eggers then scored on a single by Meagan Duarte, who drove in three runs on the day, to put the Falcons up 10-2.
VCS scored five times in the first inning, helped in great part by five walks issued by the Grizzlies starting pitcher. The Falcons got three more in the second inning aided by key hits from Meggers and Kyra Williams.
The Falcons got their final tallies in a three-run fifth headlined by Webb’s third hit of the game and a two-run single to left by freshman Paige Prentice.
Everett was very pleased with the progress his largely inexperienced team has been making.
“They are developing very well, 100 percent improvement from our first couple of games,” he said. “This (Meggers and Webb) is the heart of our team. And then our defense backing them up and our bats coming into play really well. They take care of each other. They are 100 percent supportive of each other. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter. I told them, ‘We don’t care about the score.’ Today was a great win because they worked really hard at it. But they always support each other.”
– Co-Head Coach George Everett
Matt Sieger | Sports Reporter
Matt covers local high school sports. He also writes a sports column and local news features. Matt is a graduate of Cornell University and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications. He grew up in New Jersey, where he was an all-league second baseman in high school.msieger@thereporter.com Follow Matt Sieger @MattSieger1