Chiefland secures their first win at home

The Chiefland Indians dominated Buchholz High School 10-5 under the lights on Thursday night. With sound defense and hot bats they’re now 1-1 on the season and things are only looking up.

Perfect night for some softball! Chiefland High takes on Buchholz at home. #thursdaynightlights @ESPNGainesville pic.twitter.com/IpxdbQgtmM

— Lauren Halpern (@laurhalpern) February 25, 2022

Overview

Chiefland set the tone of the game early as Kalie Osteen held her own in the circle with strong defense behind her back. Notable was the Lady Indian’s catcher, a wall behind the plate when it mattered most. The Lady Indians kept Buchholz scoreless for the first couple innings with momentum fed by first basemen Nikki Fuller, who did a full split to carry the team into the second inning where the offense exploded.

All while holding the Bobcats to a mere two runs, the Lady Indians put seven runs on the board. Initiating the first score, Chiefland really began to roll in the bottom of the second as a standout in the lineup Grace Quincy launched one over the right fielder, scoring Bailey Doty and MacKenzie Fisher, who both walked after quality at-bats against Bobcat pitcher Bailey Quire, making it 3-0. The rally continued when Kalie Osteen doubled to left, adding two more to Chiefland’s advantage as Keene and Quincy crossed the plate showing 5-0 on the scoreboard.

Buchholz spoke back when Kayla Hooper blasted one over the center-field fence scoring Tione Akins and cutting it close with a score of 5-2.

Kalie Osteen continued to make her mark in the box in the fourth inning, scoring Fuller through another double and then teaming up with Reyna Merz for an RBI, making the score 7-2 and stealing the momentum back for Chiefland.

The sixth inning got scary for Chiefland as the Bobcats got tactical with longer at-bats, working pitcher Kalie Osteen to walk three free runs into home plate. Luckily the Lady Indians got fired up by this and managed to put three more runs on the board thanks to MacKenzie Fisher, a lefty with a bat. With bases loaded and two strikes on her, she doubled to left and cleared the bases to shut Buchholz down for good 10-5.

The Lady Indians ended the game on defense with 3-up-3-down in the top of the seventh, making it a clean home sweep.

What’s Next

When asked which aspect from the Buchholz game Assistant Coach Mark Swain would like to take with him into the rest of the season he replied:

Chiefland will take on Branford on their turf tomorrow, February 25th at 7 p.m. It is expected that the team’s new and improved mental game will serve them well as they head into another non-district matchup.