SHS falls to Lancers, beats Crusaders

KELSO -- Held to only four hits on Thursday, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs couldn't keep up with the St. Pius X Lady Lancers high-powered offense, falling 12-2 after five innings on the mercy-rule.

"They didn't play to their potential," Sikeston assistant coach Paige Silverthorn said of her team. "If you put the ball in play, you'll make the other team make mistakes and will have a chance to win. We didn't give ourselves a chance to win."

Playing the Lady Lancers in pool play at Notre Dame Softballfest, the Lady Bulldogs found themselves in an early 3-0 hole when St. Pius opened the game with what ended up being the first of four three-run rallies in the contest.

Closing back to within a run of St. Pius at 3-2, Sikeston rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the second thanks, in part, to Maggie Shepherd leading off the inning with a triple down the first base line. Next to bat, Kayla Fodge scored Shepherd with a sacrifice bunt.

Later in the inning, with two outs, Lauren Graham reached on an dropped ball by the left fielder before advancing to third before scoring on a slap-bunt single by Madison Chaney.

That was as close as the Sikeston came to chasing down the Lady Lancer's, however, with St. Pius scoring three runs in both the second and third frames to take a 9-2 advantage.

After being held scoreless in the fourth, the final blow came in the fifth after Kelley Conway's liner up the middle scored Haley Martin from second while leaving runners on first and second with one out.

It was cleanup hitter Holly Magre hitting a shot into the gap in right-centerfield that cleared the bases and sealed the 12-2 run-rule win.

"We had kids all up and down our lineup that hit," St. Pius coach Kevin Halley said. "Anytime we can produce like that I'm happy."

Picking up the win was Lady Lancer's ace Magre, who went all five innings allowing two runs on four hits and a walk while striking out four. After surrendering Chaney's RBI single in the second inning, Magre retired 10 straight Lady Bulldog batters to end the game. Topping off an all-around strong performance, Magre finished 3 for 4 at the plate with a pair of doubles and six runs batted in.

"She threw well, " Halley said. "She threw to her spots and outside of the first two innings we made a lot of plays defensively. She's our cleanup hitter for a reason and she's our No. 1 pitcher for a reason.

"(Magre) was an all-state pitcher and she hit .400 something last year. She's a ballplayer."

Others contributing to St. Pius' cause were Kelley Conway, who had three hits and two RBI while Caroline Basler finished with a pair of hits and scored two runs.

For Sikeston, Sarah Dixon and Shepherd both collected a triple with Chaney and Bayleah James rounding out the offense with a single each.

Disappointed in the loss, Silverthorn believes the Lady Bulldogs problems are more about getting in the right mindset than anything physical.

"Mentally we fell apart," she said. "We just can't have a juggle between which team is going to show up.

"They have to show up every time and we know they can, they've done it before. They just have to get it done."

Later in the evening, in their second game of pool play, the Lady Bulldogs proved their coach right in running away from Saxony Lutheran for a 13-2 win.

"It was a great comeback after the first game," Silverthorn said. "The girls showed how they really play ball. We hit well and made some great defensive plays.

"Almost every player got some playing time and we really came together. It was great team win."

Now at 2-4 on the season, Sikeston will play the Scott City Lady Rams on Saturday at 9 a.m. in the next round of Notre Dame Softballfest.

Scott City 11, Chaffee 8

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Scoring five runs in the final two innings, the Scott City Lady Rams pulled out an 11-8 win over the Chaffee Lady Devils in pool play at Notre Dame Softballfest.

Holding an early 4-0 lead, the Lady Rams surrendered five runs in the bottom of the second and headed into the left the fifth frame trailing 7-6. A three-run rally in the top of the sixth, however, put Scott City ahead 9-7 before the Lady Rams manufactured another pair of runs in the seventh.

Chaffee pushed across a run in the bottom of the seventh, but its rally fell short.

Scott City was led by Lyndsie Robert, Alexis Spriggs, Lindsay Kern and Lyndsey Rendleman, who had two hits each. Robert and Kern each contributed a double while Rendleman stole five bases and scored four runs. Spriggs finished the game scoring three runs.

For the Lady Devils, Taylor Fodge and Kaitlin McFerron had three hits apiece while Sierra Miller, Stevie Schrum and Jessie Evans each had two.

On the game, Chaffee outhit Scott City 14-11.

Notre Dame 16, Scott City 1

Shortly after their win, the Lady Rams stepped back on the field for their second game of pool play, Facing host Notre Dame, Scott City fell 16-1 after four innings on the mercy-rule.

Notre Dame scored a run in the first and four in the third before mounting an 11-run rally in the fourth to close out the game.

Scott City's lone hit of the game came at the hand of Rendleman, who led off the fourth with a double. The Lady Rams went on to score in the inning off three straight Notre Dame errors.

Standing at 3-2 on the season, Scott City will play Sikeston on Saturday at 9 a.m in the next round of Notre Dame Softballfest.

Notre Dame 16, Chaffee 1

The Lady Bulldogs' Summer Burger drove in three runs as Notre Dame also defeated Chaffee by a score of 16-1.

Katie Bond limited the Lady Devils to just two hits picking up the win.