So far, life has been good for the Faith Christian Academy softball team.
When you outscore your opponents 97-6 in your first six games, it appears to be a safe assumption.
The Lions lived up to their own expectations with their early season onslaught, and they are confident it can be a springboard for the remainder of the season.
Faith Christian (6-0) took care of The Christian Academy, 20-1, in a shortened four-inning contest Monday afternoon, and it blanked Plumstead Christian, 11-0, two days earlier.
Against The Christian Academy, Karleigh Garber drove in five runs.
“It has been a great atmosphere so far,” said Faith head coach Rod Blake. “We lost four starters from last year, but we picked up some very good ninth-graders who blended in with everyone immediately.
“Our kids have really meshed well. They have been very eager to learn. We figured we could get through the early part of our schedule, and now we have the meat of our schedule coming up.”
Faith freshman Morgan Pepkowski, who had three hits and three RBIs against The Christian Academy and a pair of hits against Plumstead, has been hitting at better than a .800 clip. However, hitting as a high average isn’t anything new. Pepkowski has been a steady, productive hitter on her traveling teams.
She also hurled a one-hitter with nine strikeouts against Plumstead Christian.
“It really wasn’t a big adjustment for me,” said Pepkowski, who plays short and also pitches. “I always get off to a good start and I can usually maintain it.
“We have really good chemistry here, and we believe we can keep it going.”
On the mound, senior Emily Blake, the coach’s daughter, is off to a 4-0 start with three shutouts. Her latest victory was over The Christian Academy in which she struck out seven and maintained her 0.00 ERA.
“It has been really exciting,” she said. “We know we’ll have some tough games ahead, but this start will help us. Having the run support and defense behind me has really helped my confidence. I feel really good throwing the ball right now.”
Plumstead Christian (2-2), which has experienced some growing pains, has been sidetracked early with a series of cancellations and will enter into the bulk of its season.
Head coach Wes Brown plans to keep a patient stance.
“We were with them, but we couldn’t get anything going offensively,” said Brown about the Faith Christian game. “I liked how we have played defensively.
“We’re a mixed bag as a team. We have some upperclassmen and a good number of freshmen.”
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