The tears were falling in the dugout of the Marshfield High School softball team after the Pirates were upset 4-1 by Springfield on Wednesday. The win would have moved the Pirates into a tie for third with Thurston in the Midwestern League standings.

After winning both of their previous games against Springfield, the Pirates felt they should have won the third.

“We weren’t ready to play,” said Marshfield pitcher Brittney Young. “We thought we would win it. We didn’t get ready to hit when we went to the plate.”

Marshfield coach Floyd Montiel was disappointed in his team’s batting effort as well, and thought the Millers were not a team that should be underestimated.

“I really hope we weren’t overconfident,” he said. “That’s the wrong way to approach it. We haven’t been beating Springfield by much, it’s been close.

“They hit the ball — we didn’t.”

The Millers were able to get 12 hits while the Pirates were only managed a single off the bat of junior first baseman Tiffany Wiley.

Not only did she get Marshfield’s only hit, but she also scored its only run.

The run came in the first inning after the Pirates suffered their first out of the game with a strikeout by Young. Wiley followed Young with a single. On the first pitch to Chelsea Burns, Wiley narrowly stole second base as the Springfield second baseman dropped the ball. Burns then smacked the ball toward second base, where it bounced and was fumbled again by Springfield’s fielder. This gave Wiley enough time to round third and score Marshfield’s run.

Then, in the third inning, the Millers started hitting.

Hillary Wasson  hit a double to left center, just out of reach for a sprinting Jessica Ott, who dove to try and catch the fly.

Niki Stalck followed with a double to nearly the same spot, tying the score.

In the fifth inning, the Millers took the lead for good. Wasson opened the inning with a single, but was forced out at second by Marshfield’s Brianna George on a fielder’s choice by Ashley Luhner. Kayla Meza then hit a double to score Luhner.

Springfield added two more insurance runs in the seventh inning. Meza singled and later scored on a single by Stalck. Sabra Lindhal followed with a double to score Stalck.

The game ended quickly as the Pirates could not connect well with the ball in the bottom of the seventh.

“They hit the ball and we couldn’t hit,” said Wiley.

Springfield coach Kim Badley felt his team’s exceptional hitting was the difference between this game and Springfield’s previous two losses against the Pirates.

“We hit the ball today, and (had) better defense and overall effort,” said Bradley.

Third place is still in reach for Marshfield, however it will need to win all three of its remaining games.

“To win the next three games, we’ll have to be perfect,” said Marshfield senior Jayla Tavernier. “We play some good teams.”

The Pirates open the final stretch with a home game against Willamette on Friday.