Lady Bulldogs blanked by Cape Central

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs were defeated 12-0 by the Cape Central Lady Tigers at the Sports Complex on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs, suffering their sixth shutout in an 0-7 start, were no-hit by Cape's Kelsey Holloway in the five-inning mercy-run rule loss.

Freshman pitcher Mara Krokstron took the loss but got little support from a Sikeston defense which allowed nine unearned runs.

Krokstron scattered 10 hits and kept the ball in play with only four walks, a welcome departure from an early tendency of Sikeston pitchers to issue free passes in bunches.

"We're finally finding the strike zone, something that we struggled with at the beginning of the season," said Sikeston coach Tiffany King. "Now we've got to find the defense and chemistry to get it done.

"We have a lot of young girls playing important (defensive) positions and we're still taking baby steps, but we're taking them in the right direction."

Cape Central (6-6) plated five runs -- three unearned and a fourth scored on a misplayed flyball which went for a RBI triple -- in the first inning.

In the second, three more unearned runs crossed the plate on two Sikeston errors. Then, in the third, three of the four runs scored were also unearned, again aided by two errors.

"It's a big difference when you have girls that have never played before or are playing their first year of competitive ball," said King.

Sikeston put the ball in play nine of its 16 at-bats but managed only two baserunners, both in the fourth inning.

Leadoff hitter Katie DeLaRosa was hit by a pitch and stole second. Mary Deason reached on an error as DeLaRosa held at second. A double steal put runners at second and third with one out, but a strikeout and flyout ended the threat.

Said King, "We've got to find some holes and learn how to handle the bats. Again, it comes down to being young and inexperienced."

Lindsay Jo Greene and Paige Rothenberger led the Lady Tigers with two hits each.

Sikeston meets undefeated Kelly today at 4 p.m. at Benton.