Record girls win nail-biter
Handed first loss of season
Marion County Record 12-and-under girls' softball team hosted town rival Carlsons' Grocery June 28 in what proved to be a nail-biter.
Kristen Steinborn recovered from the previous week's injury and started the game on the mound with Emily Rogers behind the plate.
Steinborn struck out two in the first inning and left the Carlsons' team with three on the board.
The Record girls batted through the line-up in the first inning, scoring five runs and taking the lead.
The Carlsons' girls were held scoreless in the second inning and the Record team added five more runs.
Carlsons' rallied in the third inning scoring five runs as the Record team suffered some pitching problems. Not to be outdone, the Record girls again added five runs to their side of the scoreboard, bringing the score to 15-8.
Pitching problems and fielding errors continued to plague the Record team and the Carlsons' girls scored 12 runs in the final open inning to lead the game, 15-20.
The Carlsons' pitchers began to struggle as the Record girls went to bat. Josie Freeby began the line-up and was walked. Frankie Clark hit an infield fly to the pitcher to deliver the team's first out.
Sara Guetersloh hit a double, bringing in Freeby for a run. Tiff Christensen hit a single, scoring Guetersloh and bringing the score to 17-20.
Patience was a virtue as the next two Record batters were walked, bringing Steinborn to the plate with the bases loaded. Steinborn delivered a single, scoring Christensen and Rogers and putting Jordan Harper on third with the winning run.
A hit by Tori Schmidt brought Harper in to win the game with a final score of 21-20.
Hillsboro
The Marion County Record team hosted Hillsboro Ampride June 29 in their third match-up of the season.
The Record girls struggled offensively and defensively throughout the game.
Hillsboro scored two runs in the top of the first and the Record team answered with two of their own. The second inning brought the Ampride girls three runs and left the Record team lagging behind.
Pitching struggles brought Steinborn and Freeby to the mound several times during the game. Ampride added a run in the third inning and the Record team put up five.
In the fourth and final inning, the Record girls were behind 6-8. Ampride put up 10 runs but the Record team couldn't answer and ended the inning scoreless and the game with their first loss of the season.
Heading into tournament action this week with a 7-1 record, the Record team is the top seed.
