EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville sophomore second baseman Jayna Connoyer was one-for-three in the Tigers’ loss on Wednesday to Piasa Southwestern 12-8 at the Edwardsville Sports Complex, but her hit was a big one.
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Connoyer hit a one-out solo home run over the fence in left-center that at the time cut the Southwestern lead to 10-4. The Tigers gave up three runs in the first and second innings, and four in the fourth to give momentum to the Piasa Birds.
“We really tried, we were fighting through it, and we were talking, and it just didn’t come out,” Connoyer said during a postgame interview. “We should have made some defensive plays, and we’re learning as a team.”
Southwestern had a 17-hit attack that put Edwardsville behind, but the Tigers kept fighting back, and Connoyer knows that the team will learn from the loss.
“Yeah, we kept fighting, and we’re going to learn from this,” Connoyer said, “and we’re going to get better as the season goes on.”
The pitch Connoyer hit for her home run was an inside pitch that she found to her liking.
“It was kind of inside, and it was about the middle of my belt,” Connoyer said, “and I like inside pitches, so it was just one of those that I knew it was inside, and I knew that I liked it, and thought I could do something with it.”
Of course, it’s still very early in the season, and Connoyer has some very good goals both for herself and the team.
“For the team, we really want to win regionals, and hopefully go to state,” Connoyer said, “and for myself, I just want to get a batting average of about .300. And I want to make plays and grow as a player, and hopefully learn as a varsity, as this is my first year.”
Connoyer will keep working hard and do what she can to help the Tigers.
“It’s all for the program because we just need to learn and grow as a team, and everything will be fine," Connoyer said.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
