ShawneeDispatch.com

The Mill Valley softball team must have crossed paths with a black cat last Thursday.

Whatever happened to the Jaguars, lady luck was not on their side when the Tonganoxie Chieftains rolled into town. Tonganoxie scored its first four runs on plays so out of the ordinary, Mill Valley coach Michelle Mages needed only one adjective to describe what transpired: "weird."

Mill Valley dropped its first league game of the season to Tonganoxie, 7-3. The Lady Jags took a 2-0 lead into the third inning when the string of bad luck began to unfold.

Tonganoxie had two runners on base and two outs when Cat White forced an infield pop up. The ball appeared to be flying just foul along the first base side until a gust of wind caught it and pulled it back into fair territory between first base and the pitcher's mound. Mill Valley was unable to catch the ball and two runs scored to tie the game at 2-2.

"The wind was gusty but the only play it affected was that one stupid pop up," Mages said.

The next inning Mill Valley again had two outs on Tonganoxie when a routine fly ball to the outfield was dropped, enabling Tonganoxie to score again and take a 3-2 lead.

Tonganoxie's last unearned run came when Mill Valley had a runner trapped between third base and home. The Jaguars hit the Chieftain runner in the helmet with the ball and she was able to score without a play.

Mages felt like the error in the third inning led to Mill Valley's next two mistakes.

"We have to find a way to be mentally tougher and not to let momentum switch," Mages said. "If something like that happens, we just have to come back the next inning and get the momentum back."

Unfortunately, Mill Valley was never able to recover. Tonganoxie had nine hits in the game, compared with eight for Mill Valley. However, Tonganoxie did not have any errors in the field.

"They were making plays when they needed to and we couldn't get a timely hit when we needed it," Mages said.

In the second game, the two teams decided to play role reversal. Mill Valley scored three runs in the first inning, two of which were unearned off of Tonganoxie errors.

Jags junior Erin Ford was nearly untouchable on the mound in the 7-1 victory -- pitching a complete-game, two-hit, seven-inning gem.

The offense came alive in the nightcap behind leadoff hitter Carlene Berry, who needed no awakening. Berry went 3-for-4 in the second game and 3-for-3 in the first game. Mages moved Berry up one slot to leadoff in the lineup this week, and Berry responded by going 14-for-16 for the week.

Berry will try to keep her hot streak alive Friday at the St. Thomas Aquinas Tournament.

Mill Valley plays three pool games Friday against Santa Fe Trail, Blue Valley West and Marysville. Game times are noon, 1:30 and 4:30 p.m. At 6 p.m. the Jags will play their final game of the tournament, possibly for the championship, depending on how they do in pool play.

As for defending their Kaw Valley League title, the Jags will need some help. Tonganoxie and Santa Fe Trail are both undefeated in league, since only the first game of a double header counts toward the league record.

Mill Valley, which sat at 3-1 in the league and 6-2 overall as of Tuesday, still has a league game against Santa Fe Trail on May 2 but does not play Tonganoxie again.