Clear Fork scored five times in the first two innings and Morgan Arnett and freshman Darien Gottfried combined on a shut out as the Lady Colts blanked Lucas 11-0 in five innings on Monday in non-conference play.
The win was coach Jeff Gottfried’s 300th as Clear Fork’s softball coach. And in signature fashion, the veteran coach gave all of the credit to his players over the years, saying the next win will feel even better.
“Not as good as 301. We will get the next one and keep on moving. You do this long enough you are going you are going to get that many wins eventually. It just shows we have had lots of good players for lots of years. It’s more for them than it is for me, that’s for sure,” he said.
Clear Fork scored in the bottom of the first when speedster Taylor Kline, who led the state in steals last year, stole two bases and again created havoc.
Four different Lady Colts stole bases in the game. Gottfried says his team plays an aggressive style. “We talk about keeping our foot on the accelerator every inning. You don’t want to let a team back into a game if you have a lead on them and you just constantly put the pressure on. Once we feel we have it in hand then we will back off. For the most part we keep the pressure on them,” he said.
It’s not just stolen bases, but their speed down the line too. Gottfried says it forces opponents to make plays quickly, many times quicker than they are used too.
“It makes them play faster than they are used too. Normally in the gym, or whatever you are doing preseason, it is just routine just field the ground ball, but nobody is setting there with a stopwatch on you saying you have to make this play in 2.7 seconds, but that is what you have to do when you are facing a team with speed,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “You have to speed things up and if you haven’t practiced that it can be very difficult at times.”
Clear Fork also has power as both Erika Farst in the second inning and Montana Walker in the fourth had extra base hits that cleared the bases. Gottfried says they have a lot of ways to score. “The kids that can run can still hit for power. It keeps the other team honest. They can’t just put five kids in the infield and take that speed away from you. They have to be really honest about things and that opens things up,” said Gottfried.
The Lady Colts pitchers were backed up with solid defense and that pleased the coach more than anything. “Defensively, I am more pleased with that to come out and throw a shutout in the first game that is pretty impressive and I don’t think we made any errors either. I was really pleased with that effort,” he said.
You likely could tell by the name, but Darien Gottfried is the daughter of the coach. Jeff Gottfried says coaching her is no different than the other players, but he was a pretty proud parent.
“For me personally it is about the same because I just treat her like the rest of them. You probably have to ask her how different it is playing for dad. It was asked of her after the game were you more nervous your first at bat or you first inning on the mound? And she said she really wasn’t nervous at all and that is pretty impressive to not be nervous at all, that’s pretty cool.” said Gottfried.
Clear Fork plays at West Holmes on Tuesday and hosts the Lady Knights on Wednesday in their first two Ohio Cardinal Conference games of the season, weather permitting.
