By: Maegan Green<\/p>\n
The Blazers (5-10) recently traveled to Harrisonburg,PA to face Eastern Mennonite University(15-2).\u00a0 EMU won 9-7.<\/p>\n
The match-up was scheduled to be a double-header, but the second game was canceled due to inclement weather.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great about the EMU game,\u201d said Terry Burdette, head coach of the Blazers.\u00a0 \u201cTheir team beat the National DIII runner-up, Christopher Newport University just 2 weeks ago and they have been winning by big margins so playing such a close game against them was a huge building block for our program.\u201d<\/p>\n
At bat, Amy Hagerdon (\u201914) and Emalie Stroup (\u201912) each registered a double for Hood.\u00a0 Hagerdon, Jackie Yurchak (\u201915), and Jackie Wenzel (\u201914) each posted an RBI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have improved our hitting mechanics and being much more competitive with the bats,\u201d said Burdette.\u00a0 \u201cOur 7 runs against EMU is testament to the improvement in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Blazers played well in the sixth inning, getting six runs on six hits.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur six-run sixth inning was our best offensive inning of the year and because it came against a very strong pitcher, that made it even better,\u201d said Burdette. \u201cWe sent 11 batters to the plate and had quality at-bats throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n
Game two of the double-header has not been rescheduled yet.\u00a0 \u201cWe are allowed to schedule 40 regular season games per season,\u201d said Burdette.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not unusual to lose some of those to inclement weather.\u00a0 We have made efforts to pick up additional games to make up for those, but trying to fit them in our schedule hasn\u2019t worked out yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is Burdette\u2019s first year as head coach of Blazer softball. \u201cI\u2019ve coached fast-pitch softball since 1993, mostly at the travel ball level with the Maryland Heartbreakers where my teams have won 640 games and finished in the top 10 in the nation seven times,\u201d said Burdette.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also served as an assistant coach at Mount Saint Mary\u2019s University for three years and helped at Walkersville High School for 8 seasons including a State championship in 1999,\u201d he added.\u00a0 \u201cI love coaching and being at Hood as the full-time softball coach has been a great experience for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"