The fact that the Aachen Greyhounds are not toothless was already proven in the two teams’ first matchup, where they inflicted a more than painful defeat on the ladies of the Düsseldorf Senators.

“You can definitely say that we still have a score to settle,” said head coach Frank Mohr, who doesn’t like to think back to the game at Brandner Wall. “That was by far our worst game, not to take away from the deserved victory of the ladies from Aachen in any way. We definitely want to do better today.”

And his team succeeded in doing so in an impressive way.

“When you play against Aachen, you never really know what to expect. The Greyhounds have an unbelievable number of players on their roster, so they are and will remain the certain unknown of the softball Landesliga. But all in all I think we were pretty well prepared.”

Even if the coaches had to do without a few players that day, there was no sign of any gaps in the game. On the contrary, they all fit perfectly into their partly new roles and positions. Consistency could therefore probably only be expected of pitchers. The Rotation went to work in the same formation for the third straight game.

“I don’t think you can call it a given that easily,” said the head coach, who always has a protective hand over his players. “Pitching, like everything else, depends on how you are feeling that day and that’s why we didn’t decide who would start until just before the game.”

As in the previous games, the choice fell on Renée.

“There are nuances that decide about the start and ultimately we wanted to take the security of the past few weeks into this game.”

An excellent decision, as it turned out in hindsight.

“I know I sound like a broken record by now, but our pitchers are going through a transformation and getting better game by game. That’s really impressive.”

The very good form of the game against Verl/Gütersloh could also be preserved on the offensive side of the ball and so the ladies of the Senators seamlessly started where they left off last Sunday.

“We managed to score runs in every inning and every AB was productive,” said hitting coach Patrick Mohr. “It’s the only way to keep up the pressure and possibly force your opponents to make mistakes. Exciting also is the fact that everyone managed to get on base. We have enormous quality that we take to the batters box with us. We are very difficult to calculate.”

On defense, the ladies were able to keep the innings short, which was a great advantage given the high temperatures.

After three innings and a tight 6:3 lead, Renée was relived in the circle by Katja and from then on she was allowed to see how her teammate confirmed the upward trend from the previous week.

Aachen only managed one more run and so it came to an early end after a good 1:50 h.

„Our team didn’t miss a beat today, played the game very confidently and I think that the result of 14:4 is absolutely deserved. 

A real nail-biter

After a slight hiccup on the previous game day against the league leaders from Jülich/Krefeld, the ladies of the Düsseldorf Senators had to regroup their strengths on Sunday, August 13th, 2023 and set everything to zero. With the Yaks from Verl/Gütersloh, another top team came to the Benrather Südallee.

The first game against the Yaks was a close one, which the ladies from Verl/Gütersloh were able to win by one run in the end, and so the coaches expected the same for this very day.

“The anticipation for this game was huge,” said the head coach immediately after the game. “And I think the numerous spectators got their money’s worth.”

Everyone was having fun and, like last week, everyone went into the game with courage from the start. Behind another great performance from our starter Renée, the Senators pulled away 9-2 by the end of the fourth inning.

“We’ve rarely seen our team appear so focused,” explained assistant coach Patrick Mohr. “We held out with everything we had until the end.”

Which was also necessary, because the Yaks could not be shaken off. In the 5th inning, the starting Pitcher was relieved of her duties in the circle by Katja. After some difficulties in her first inning of relief, she came back out better and stronger and secured the Senator’s narrow lead until the beginning of the seventh inning.

“That’s what pitchers do, right?“ said Frank Mohr. “It’s their job to give us the opportunity to win a game and they both proved that once again.”

Of course we don’t want to ignore the other factors in the game, because the defense stood like a wall and one highlight play after the other was conjured up on the diamond.

“The diving catch of our shortstop probably took everyone’s breath away. That was a five-star play and you rarely, if ever, see it in our league.”

It remained exciting and so it was 10:9 for our ladies going into the seventh inning.

“No matter how difficult her start into the game was, she showed her class in the sixth and seventh innings.”

We’re talking about the ladies’ relief pitcher, who only allowed one hit in two innings and ended the game with a strikeout.

“That was a very important moment for her and our team as well. It is not easy to handle that kind of pressure, when everything is focused on you and your next pitch. Of course we practice such moments and Courtney Olivas Workouts helped us with that, but in game situations are always different.“

The strikeout ended an entertaining and exciting game after two hours and seven minutes and left a deserved winner in the Senators.

“I want to give the Yaks a big compliment and say thank you for two of the best games this season. The spectators saw some great softball and there are always two teams involved.”

Late Comeback not enough

After the two regional softball leagues were merged, the softball ladies of the Verl/Gütersloh Yaks met again on Saturday, April 29, 2023. For the Yaks, who defeated the Aachen Greyhounds 22:10 on a foreign pitch the week before, it was already the second game, whereas the Senators Ladies were just starting their season.

“At the beginning you never know exactly where you stand,” shared head coach Frank Mohr shortly before the game, according to his thoughts. “Despite good preparation, the first game of the season is often full of surprises.”

To make matters worse, the ladies had to cope with short-term cancelation of sick players and so they started the journey to Verl with only one substitute.

“The game plan was completely different, but somehow we are used to having to rethink at short notice. Making a virtue out of necessity is not just an empty phrase for us, we live it.”

Despite the many changes, the Senators’ ladies came into play well and were able to achieve a comfortable lead of 7 runs in the first inning, which took some of the burden off the starting pitcher’s shoulders. New to this role, she is playing her first season in this immensely important position.

“As excited as we are about her tremendous progress during the off-season, we mustn’t forget that Vanessa only made the move from 3rd base to circle last season,” emphasizes head coach Frank Mohr.

A step that could not have been taken so quickly without the new pitching coach, Courtney Oliva from Plus Ultra Pitching. Her analyzes and assistance are also indispensable during the season and so the coaches are in constant contact when it comes to improving the team’s performance.

It was clear to everyone that the lead would not be a calming cushion, as the Yaks responded with solid contacts in the next inings and also benefited from some defensive deficiencies.

After the fourth inning it was 11:11 in an exciting and balanced game. There were swaps in the circle and some position changes were also made in the field, but this shouldn’t lead to a crack in the game.

However, a preliminary decision in favor of the Yaks seemed to have been made in the 6th inning when they were able to pull away to 18:14. In the 7th inning, the Yaks pitcher, who was in a good mood, also caused euphoria in the opponent’s dugout with two quick outs. But the senators didn’t give up and came back brave. With their backs to the wall, they started a two out rally, tied the game and forced the Yaks back on the offensive.

If there was a tie in softball, that would have been a fair result, but of course it didn’t turn out that way. The senators small Lineup couldn’t hold up and so it was not surprising that the Yaks managed the walk off with a single into the CF, with a runner in scoring position.

“We’re always impressed by the comeback qualities our girls have.”, the coaches sum up in unison. “We are a team that never gives up. The batting practice over the winter continues to improve the bats. We have hard contacts, a good 42% of our AB are Quality AB and no matter what circumstances we are into, we find an answer. If we can minimize the errors in the field and play at full strength, we’re a serious opponent for any team.”

We congratulate the Verl/Güterloh Yaks on a great game and look forward to seeing you again in Düsseldorf. 

A big thank you goes to our supporters Caro and Janine from Beer Kong, who also cater for us on away trips.

#kongostark

Next week the ladies will travel to Aachen. Here, too, we expect a game at eye level.