The irony of Maddy Meirerer's first start at Nixa being against her former Glendale teammates Saturday didn't overwhelm her. Likewise, she's handled her transition from being a Lady Falcon to a Lady Eagle as smoothly as anyone could have hoped.

Meirerer walked one and threw a seven-hitter in Nixa's 8-1 victory versus Glendale. 

The right-handed freshman pitcher retired six of the first seven batters she faced and seven of the final eight batters. Along the way, she induced Lady Falcons leadoff star Kyndall Phillips to pop out there times and ground out once.

But it wasn't as easy as it looked, Meirerer related.

"I was nervous before the game," she said. "It felt really awkward. Me and (Glendale coach Jeff Mason) kept making eye contact. I don't know many of their players. I went to school with a couple of them, but didn't even know they played softball. After the game, though, all the girls were nice and gave me a high-five."

Meirerer gave Glendale pitcher Riley King the benefit of the doubt that when she was hit on the helmet by a King pitch, it wasn't on purpose.

"Oh my gosh, I hope not," Meirerer said with a laugh. "(Nixa assistant coach Scott Sparkman) told me before the game, 'She's going to hit you, be prepared for it.' And she did."

Meirerer actually feels she already knows her Nixa teammates better than she did her former Glendale teammates. With Glendale not having a junior-high softball program, the only experience she had as a Lady Falcon came during summer league play in June. She grew up in Niangua, but attended Glendale due to her mother working at the school. After her mother landed a new job at Nixa in July, Meirerer became a Lady Eagle. 

She plays club ball with a handful of Nixa players, making her feel at ease during her move. 

"It's been a very easy adjustment," Meirerer said. "I'm good friends with the players. Everyone has been very welcoming. All the girls pick me up when I'm down."

Meirerer is living up to her hype as a strike-throwing machine. Of her 94 pitches against Glendale, 68 were strikes. She walked no one in 2.1 innings of hitless relief in NIxa's season-opening 16-11 rout of Waynesville earlier in the day.

"I feel confident in that," Meirerer said of being in the strike zone. "When I first started pitching in 10U, I struggled throwing strikes. But I don't think I've ever really struggled with that. I practice a lot."

For the full game recap, click here.