Lady Indians Overcome Slow Start To Claim Consolation Trophy At Hallsville Tourney
The Van-Far Lady Indians kicked off the 2018 season with a loss and a couple of wins to collect the consolation hardware at the Hallsville Tournament this past weekend.
Van-Far faced Southern Boone in the first game and was narrowly edged out 2-1. The Lady Indians took the early lead with Makayla McAfee scoring on a single by Jayle Jennings but then errors took their toll and Van-Far allowed two unearned runs.
“We started the tournament off slow. We had five errors in the first game against Southern Boone and only hit the ball three times,” Coach Kelly Borchert noted. “Being the first game of the season our nerves got the best of us.”
Van-Far fast Westran in the second game of the day and picked up an 11-3 victory.
The Lady Indians got off to a hot start as Devyn Keller singled before a homerun smash by Jennings. Van-Far lit the board again following a walk and stolen base by Jordan Garner and an RBI hit from Mallory Williams.
Van-Far gave up a run in the first due to an error and a couple of singles by Westran.
The Lady Indians bounced back in the second inning with five runs. A single and stolen base by Haley Baskett started things off, followed by a walk to Rebecca Moore and then a two-run double by Colby Walton, who then scored on a single by Keller. Keller crossed home on a passed ball.
Jennings continued the inning with a single and came around to third on passed balls then scored on an RBI by Garner.
“We gave up two runs in the bottom of the second,” Borchert explained. “We then put up three more in the top of the third and didn’t allow any runs in the bottom of the third to give us the 11-3 win.”
Van-Far faced off with Sturgeon in the consolation final on Saturday.
Borchert said the game started slowly with no score through two innings. She noted the bottom of the lineup got things going in the bottom of the third inning.
Aubrey Bunge cranked a double to start it off, then singles from Alyse Jensen, McAfee and Keller had the team up 3-0 going into the fourth.
The Lady Indians tallied three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with singles from Williams, Baskett, Alivia Graddy, Bunge and Jensen.
Van-Far went on to add eight more runs in the sixth while keeping Sturgeon off the scoreboard.
“The bottom of our lineup got our bats going and kept us going throughout the whole game,” Borchert remarked. “Even though the weekend started off slow and rocky, we were able to rally back and get our bats going.”
Borchert pointed out the weekend was also significant as Jordan Garner and Jayle Jennings both notched their 100th career hits on Saturday.
The Lady Indians were back in action on Monday, Aug. 27. Van-Far fell to Calvary Lutheran 10-2. They will host North Callaway on Thursday, Aug. 30.
Louisiana Drops First Softball Game To Canton
The Louisiana Lady Bulldogs dropped the first game of the 2018 season to Canton 15-1 on Monday, Aug. 24.
Canton notched five runs in the first, four more in the second, three runs in the third and three more in the fifth inning. Louisiana pushed a run across the plate in the third but couldn’t get more going.
Canton had 17 hits in the game and Louisiana had seven in addition to two errors.
The Lady Bulldogs got hits from Jaidyn Wommack, Maria Gutierrez, Mechia Campbell, and Stephanie Mills in addition to a double from Caitlyn Gloe. Autumn Castagna had two hits and an RBI in the game.
Gutierrez pitched two innings giving up nine runs on 10 hits. Faith Rule pitched two innings giving up three runs on two hits and Kindell Crowder pitched one inning giving up three runs on five hits.
The Lady Bulldogs will be on the road tonight (Tuesday, Aug. 28) as they take on Palmyra and then travel to Bowling Green on Thursday, Aug. 30.
Lady Cats Edged Out In Three Games At Troy Classic
The Bowling Green Lady Cats softball team kicked off the season with the difficult Troy Lead-Off Classic.
The Lady Cats fell in three games against Troy-Buchanan, 3-0, Hickman 8-3 and Washington 5-2.
Bowling Green bounced back on Monday, Aug. 27 with a 13-6 victory over Hannibal.
The Lady Cats will continue action tonight (Tuesday, Aug. 28) at home as they host Highland and then host Louisiana on Thursday, Aug. 30.
Lady Hawks Defeat Christian To Start Season
Clopton opened their softball schedule on Monday by downing O’Fallon Christian 8-2.
Allison Hunter struck out fourteen in the win and allowed only one earned run for the victory in the circle.
Kaitlyn Kuntz was 5 for 6 with an RBI for the Hawks and Brooklyn McKenney drove in a pair of runs on two hits.
Madison Horstmeier was also 4 for 4 for Clopton.
The Lady Hawks will host Canton tonight (Tuesday, Aug. 28) and then Wellsville-Middletown on Thursday, Aug. 30.
