EAST PRAIRIE -- The East Prairie Lady Eagles were in search of their second straight victory on Thursday afternoon, when they hosted the Kelly Lady Hawks, but were defeated in six innings, 10-0, due to the mercy rule.
"This was just typical Kelly softball," East Prairie head coach Steve Stokes said. "They can all hit the ball and they capitalize on mistakes."
Kelly jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Heather Beggs drew a walk to lead things off. She stole second before Lana Whitworth used a sacrifice bunt to move her over to third base. Ashley Flahardy singled to bring home Beggs for the first run of the game.
Kelly would not look back, as it held East Prairie scoreless through six innings, thanks to the nine strikeouts from the arm of Beggs.
Beggs held the Lady Eagles to just two hits in the game and only allowed one walk. She also went 2-for-2 at the plate, with two singles, three stolen bases, a run scored, an RBI and a walk.
"This win was big," Kelly assistant coach Melanie Heuring said. "It prepares us well for the 16-team tournament this weekend at Jackson."
The Lady Hawks added one run in the fourth, five in the fifth and three in the sixth inning to finish off the Lady Eagles.
The hitting display came from leadoff batter Londyn Backfisch and No. 2-
hitter Sarah Ruff, who each had two singles, two stolen bases and an RBI. Ruff scored one run, and Backfisch scored two.
No. 3-hitter Katee Moore and clean-up hitter Brittany Brantley each went 3-
for-4, with three singles. Moore had two stolen bases and an RBI, while Brantley had two RBIs. Kaitlin Glastetter, who courtesy-ran for Brantley, scored two runs and added three stolen bases.
"We got our bunts down," Heuring said. "We executed and ran the bases well. That's what wins ballgames."
Stokes wasn't totally disappointed in the loss, taking some good out of the defeat.
"We played well with them until the fifth inning," he said. "We just gave them runs on extra outs. We just didn't hit. If you don't hit, you don't score, but we played a good game through five innings."
East Prairie's two hits -- both singles -- came off the bats of Grace Swann and Rachel White. Swann added two stolen bases.
Taking the loss for East Prairie was Adalyn Woodard, who pitched all six innings, giving up 10 runs, on 13 hits, two walks and added three strikeouts.
East Prairie has the rest of the week off, playing again Tuesday, when it hosts Scott City at 4 p.m.
Kelly begins play Saturday morning in the Jackson Invitational at 9:45 a.m. against Seckman. All of the tournament games will be played at the Shawnee Sports Complex in Cape Girardeau.
Other teams competing in the tournament include, Cor Jesu, Poplar Bluff, Cape Notre Dame, Goreville, Ill., Farmington, Fox, Cape Central, St. Louis Notre Dame, Lutheran South, Perryville, Sullivan, Nerinx Hall, Vienna, Ill., and host Jackson.