Warriors get first win, 8-6
Staff writer
After losing the first game, 3-0, Friday to Moundridge, the Marion High School softball team knew it needed to play more aggressively in the second game.
The Warriors stranded runners in scoring position throughout the first game, attacking Moundridge’s second starter, Lindsey Fraser, was the game plan.
“The first game kind of slapped us in the face,” first baseman Sarah Guetersloh said. “We came out to the second game more focused.”
Marion won, 8-6. Guetersloh, who was also 2-for-2 in the first game, scored JayDee Schafers on a groundout to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Guetersloh also scored two runs. A double in the third inning was transformed into a run as Guetersloh was rounding third while a single from Raelene Allen gently soared over the Moundridge shortstop.
“We’ve been working a lot in practice of being a lot more aggressive on the bases,” Guetersloh said
Guetersloh got on base after a Moundridge error in the fifth inning. She ran from first to third on another Allen single. Another error allowed her to score. The Warriors scored 3 runs in the fifth: Allen crossed the plate with a Montana Percell groundout, and Erin Brown scored on an error. The rally put the Warriors up 8-0.
With her team scoring runs, Allen took over the game on the mound. After surrendering only 3 runs in the first game, she was similarly effective in the second game. Moundridge scored 2 unearned runs and 1 earned run in the first two frames, but Allen countered with three consecutive, 1-2-3 innings. The fourth inning breezed by with three groundouts to the left side of the infield; it only took seven pitches.
The Wildcats battled to score 3 runs in the sixth inning. A double by Shiloh Schaefer scored Tiffany Fisher and a triple by Jennifer Kaufman scored Fisher. An error allowed Kaufman to score. After a short team conference on the mound, Allen forced a pop up to Brown behind the plate, struck out the next batter, and forced a groundout to Andrea Norquist at second base to end the inning.
“Her attitude has improved a lot,” Guetersloh said of Allen. “With every pitch, she’s determined to make it the one she needs.”
Allen finished the game with another inning featuring three consecutive outs — a fly out to Percell in right field, a grounder back to the pitcher, and a strikeout closed the game.
“It was a good game to build on,” coach Jill Hudson said. “They did it together as a team.”