Lady Tigers win at East Clinton

The McClain Lady Tigers got back on the winning side of the scoreboard Friday evening, defeating the East Clinton Lady Astros for a South Central Ohio League win at ECHS by a 15-5 score.

The Lady Tigers led 1-0 after the first three innings and 3-2 after four complete.

In the fifth, MHS added one run, followed by a six-run sixth inning and five-run seventh frame.

"Obviously, it was good to get back on the winning side of things," MHS head coach Ed Bolender said. "We did a lot of good things in by far our most complete game of the year. We got big hits in timely situations, and we ran the bases very aggressively like we really want to do.

"The best thing to me was there in the fourth and fifth innings when they scored and had base runners."

EC had a second two-run inning in the fifth, followed by a run in the sixth.

For MHS, in the bottom of the second, Sarah Thompson hit a one-out single, followed by a steal of second base. Thompson scored on a hit by Kelcey Smith.

Thompson finished 4-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.

The bottom of the fourth saw Thompson lead-off with a single, then Smith had a sacrifice bunt to move Thompson to second base.

Thompson then stole third, and Kenzie Anderson followed by drawing a walk and stealing second. Valerie Caldwell batted in both runners with a single.

Savannah Anderson led off the fifth with a double and went to third on a throwing error. Katy Unger hit a sacrifice fly to score Anderson.

Smith led off the top of the sixth with a single. Anderson reached on a error. Those two were batted home off a three-run home run by Caldwell.

Caldwell went 3-for-4 with the home run and five RBIs.

Barton (2-for-3) followed with a walk, and a couple batters later, Unger hit a two-run home run. Caitlyn Lovett followed with a double and was brought home on an RBI single by Thompson.

Kenzie Anderson led off the seventh by taking first after being hit by a pitch. Caldwell followed with a single, then Barton singled to plate Anderson.

Willett walked next, and Unger scored another run on a sacrifice fly. Lovett drove in a single run on a single, and Thompson finished the scoring with a two-run double.

The winning pitcher was Alli Willett. She pitched seven innings, allowing six runs (two earned) on nine hits and two walks. She finished with two strikeouts.

"The bats really come alive with the home runs," Bolender said. "Those were the first two home runs of the year, and hopefully this is another step in the maturity of the group.

"We continue to get better every day and will be playing our best ball as we kick off the tournament soon."