Lady Tigers defeat Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Jim Jones-
GREENFIELD — The McClain Lady Tigers softball team evened their overall record on the season at 5-5 and improved to 3-2 in the Frontier Athletic Conference after defeating Hillsboro 9-2 Friday night on Daryle Unger Memorial Field in Greenfield.
Cierra Bolender got the complete game victory in the circle for the Lady Tigers, who have now won four of their last five ballgames.
“This was a good win for us in the league, but we still were not pleased with our overall performance tonight,” McClain head coach Ed Bolender said. “We didn’t play smart and didn’t run the bases very well either, which has been one of our strong points this season.”
McClain opened up the scoring in the game with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Beckley Smith, Kaylee Stevenson and Kaleigh Easter all scored with Easter and Brooklyn Rickman driving in two of the three runs.
Hillsboro scored a run in the top of the third when Riley Moberly singled and later came around to score, cutting the lead to 3-1. After a scoreless fourth inning, the Lady Indians plated their second run of the game in the top of the fifth after Moberly doubled and scored again on Christine Page’s RBI single.
The Lady Tigers got those two runs back in the bottom of the fifth when Beckley Smith and Stevenson both singled and came around to score pushing McClain’s lead back to 5-2. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Tigers gained a little bit of a cushion on the scoreboard by scoring four big runs on four hits.
Kendall Pollard led off with a bunt single and was driven home by Stevenson. Allison Beatty then doubled to score Stevenson, followed by another RBI single off the bat of Easter. Rickman closed out the scoring in the inning, and the game ended with a run-scoring double, making the final score 9-2.
“We finally strung some hits together in the sixth inning and scored some runs, which we hadn’t done all night,” Bolender said. “I thought Cierra did a good job on the mound for us, even though she didn’t have her best stuff. She found ways to get people out, and our defense was pretty good behind her.”
Lady Indians head coach Katie Moberly still had plenty of praise for her ball team in spite of the loss.
“This game was a big improvement from most of our games earlier in the season, but we know we’re still not where we want to be,” Moberly said after the game. “We got a lot of girls on base today but just couldn’t get the hits to move them around and get them in.
“Christine (Page) did a nice job on the mound for us and kept us in the game, and I told our girls I think that we’re headed in the right direction. McClain has a really good team that hits the ball, and they play solid defense. They took care of things when they needed to.”
The Lady Tigers host Paint Valley in a doubleheader on Saturday.
Cierra Bolender got the complete game victory in the circle for the Lady Tigers, who have now won four of their last five ballgames.
“This was a good win for us in the league, but we still were not pleased with our overall performance tonight,” McClain head coach Ed Bolender said. “We didn’t play smart and didn’t run the bases very well either, which has been one of our strong points this season.”
McClain opened up the scoring in the game with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Beckley Smith, Kaylee Stevenson and Kaleigh Easter all scored with Easter and Brooklyn Rickman driving in two of the three runs.
Hillsboro scored a run in the top of the third when Riley Moberly singled and later came around to score, cutting the lead to 3-1. After a scoreless fourth inning, the Lady Indians plated their second run of the game in the top of the fifth after Moberly doubled and scored again on Christine Page’s RBI single.
The Lady Tigers got those two runs back in the bottom of the fifth when Beckley Smith and Stevenson both singled and came around to score pushing McClain’s lead back to 5-2. In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Tigers gained a little bit of a cushion on the scoreboard by scoring four big runs on four hits.
Kendall Pollard led off with a bunt single and was driven home by Stevenson. Allison Beatty then doubled to score Stevenson, followed by another RBI single off the bat of Easter. Rickman closed out the scoring in the inning, and the game ended with a run-scoring double, making the final score 9-2.
“We finally strung some hits together in the sixth inning and scored some runs, which we hadn’t done all night,” Bolender said. “I thought Cierra did a good job on the mound for us, even though she didn’t have her best stuff. She found ways to get people out, and our defense was pretty good behind her.”
Lady Indians head coach Katie Moberly still had plenty of praise for her ball team in spite of the loss.
“This game was a big improvement from most of our games earlier in the season, but we know we’re still not where we want to be,” Moberly said after the game. “We got a lot of girls on base today but just couldn’t get the hits to move them around and get them in.
“Christine (Page) did a nice job on the mound for us and kept us in the game, and I told our girls I think that we’re headed in the right direction. McClain has a really good team that hits the ball, and they play solid defense. They took care of things when they needed to.”
The Lady Tigers host Paint Valley in a doubleheader on Saturday.