Late rally gives Warriors first victory
Sports reporter
Lauren Helmer knew what she needed to do. It was simple: hit the ball, win the game.
And that's exactly what happened.
As the line drive off the junior's bat hit the grass, allowing Morgan Cady to score the winning run, Marion High School picked up its first victory of the season, defeating Halstead, 2-1.
"We needed that," head coach Sandy Black said. "It gave the girls a boost of confidence."
The Warriors hadn't scored a run for 6-2/3 innings until Kristen Waner scored on an error in the bottom of the seventh.
Waner would have been the last out of the game, but her sharply hit ground ball was fumbled by the short stop, and the junior hustled to reach first.
After a Cady double, Kari Tajchman reached on an error that allowed Waner to score.
An Erica Geis walk then set up Helmer's game winner.
"I kind of had a feeling I was going to be the last batter," Helmer said. "I could feel hit the good part of the bat. It was awesome."
Although the offense won the game for Marion in the end, it was the defense that kept them in it.
The Dragons didn't score a run until the seventh inning, with Warrior pitcher Sonja Steinborn allowing just five hits while striking out six.
Geis made a lunging catch in center field and threw to second for a double play, to keep the scored tied at zero in the sixth, while the rest of the team kept Halstead runners off the bases for much of the night.
"That's the defense I knew we had," Black said.
The victory gave MHS a 1-3 record on the season, that would fall to 1-4 after a second-game loss to Halstead, 8-3.
The Dragons scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back.
"They didn't need to hang their heads after the second game," Black said of her girls. "We just had trouble with their pitcher."
Waner, Tacy Taylor, and Lanna Carroll scored runs for MHS in the second game.
Hillsboro
One night after their first victory, the team headed west to take on Hillsboro.
Despite staying close in both games, the Warriors fell, 11-7 and 4-2.
"We had some errors in the first game we could have done without," Black said.
The second game was different however, with both defenses playing solid throughout. The Trojans broke open a scoreless tie with four runs in the fifth, and Marion scored two in the seventh before falling short.
Black was impressed with both defense.
"We just couldn't find any holes, and their defense was making plays," she said.
"I don't think we had any errors and that was a big thing we told them. They kept their heads up and fought with them until the seventh inning."
Jandee Sharp and Kristen Waner each had three hits in the first game, and pitcher Steinborn led the team with two runs scored.
Waner and Morgan Cady tried to get a rally going with back-to-back singles to lead off the seventh inning. Tajchman then doubled in the Warriors' two runs.
"I was proud of the way they played," Black said.
It's back to normal this week for the Warriors, as they took on Collegiate Tuesday at home, and will travel Friday to play Hoisington.
