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Henning 'was just on'
The Robinson softball team has seen its share of ups and downs this season, but one thing has remained constant: pitching.
Senior Erin Henning filled the starting pitching void left by departing senior McIntosh from a year ago, and is proving to her teammates that she is perfectly capable of handling her new role as the team's ace.
Her most recent success occurred last Friday evening against Concorde District foe Westfield. Coaches for both teams are close friends, so there is a friendly rivalry between the squads. Robinson entered the game below the .500 mark record-wise, while Westfield was near the top of the district standings.
But Henning showed everyone in attendance that season records are never a deciding factor.
The right-hander struck out the side in the seventh inning, solidifying the Rams' 2-0 triumph. Westfield's bats were able to muster just four hits, two in the fifth inning.
"She was just on," said Robinson coach Barry Gorodnick, whose team is now 5-7 overall and 2-3 in Concorde District play. "All her stuff was working, her curveball was working pretty well tonight. She was able to keep them off balance and I think she just relaxed. She didn't feel like she had to do it all. In the past when we haven't been winning, she's putting all the pressure on herself that she's gotta strike everybody out."
Henning was a mound machine for the entire contest. She faced the minimum number of batters in the first, third, fourth and seventh frames, and finished the night with zero walks and five strikeouts. Henning's offspeed pitching style – she rarely, if ever, throws a fastball – resulted in six groundouts.
"I felt really good out there, I've been working hard," Henning said. "We've been trying our hardest in our practices, just trying to do well. I'm really working on my pitching this year."
At the plate, Robinson hitters backed up Henning's mound magic in the sixth inning. After shortstop Christine Cunningham led off the stanza with a sliced triple down the right field line, the junior scored on a wild pitch. Two walks, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly later, Robinson plated another runner – sophomore Marcy Bowdren – for the game's final run.
Henning made a habit out of painting the corners and moving her pitches around, and she gave a credit to the other half of the battery – senior Alex Powers.
"My catcher called a fantastic game, she knew exactly where to throw," Henning said. "I seemed to be on tonight and it just went our way."
Prior to Robinson's sixth-inning output, Westfield threatened to get on the scoreboard in the home half of the fifth. The Bulldogs had runners at first and third with two outs after a single and a double, but Henning got herself out of the jam by inducing an inning-ending groundout.
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