ORAN -- The Oran Lady Eagles Softball team shut down Saxony Lutheran 5-0 Friday in Oran. Lady Eagles pitcher Claire Seyer was only one walk away from a perfect game, but still pitched the no-hitter to lead her team to the victory and a season record of 8-3.
Seyer accomplished the rare feat while still suffering from a shoulder injury.
"I'm very pleased with her effort today," Oran head coach Sara Heisserer said after Friday's game. "She is still battling an injury. She took all of last week off. We let Courtney Scheeter and Taylor Irwin pitch those games to let Claire rehab her injury. She had bursitis and tendentious and inflammation in her shoulder. She has been working a lot with our trainer to get that back healthy. Her arm is a lot stronger but is still battling against some pain. I'm very pleased with her determination today."
Seyer was supported by extremely sound defensive play from her infield Friday afternoon.
"They (the infield) did a really good job of backing Claire (Seyer) up today," Heisserer said. "They knew what she had going and they wanted to help her. We told them to lay out for anything, do what they can to stop the ball from going to the outfield. They really backed her today."
Solid batting from up and down the Oran lineup provided the necessary run support to compliment the Lady Eagles superb pitching and defense.
Leadoff batter and third basemen Taylor Irwin was very reliable Friday, batting 2-for-3 with a double, a single and a walk.
"Taylor (Irwin) is very consistent for us in the leadoff spot," Heisserer said. "We graduated a really good senior last year that went on to play college ball. So, Irwin has some really big shoes to fill. But she has done a very good job at that. She does a great job baserunning too."
Oran got their offense going in the bottom of the third when Halle Woodfin's RBI single brought Abbey Anderson home for the first run.
The Lady Eagles broke things open in the bottom of the fifth. First, Irwin scored off an error to bring the game to 2-0. Then Seyer drove in Anderson and Abbey Williams on a line drive double that earned her two RBI's.
"Claire really helped her own cause with that big hit in the fifth," Heisserer said of the hit.
Kirstie Mangels, who was 2-for-3 Friday, drove in Seyer to earn herself an RBI as well. That brought the game to its final mark of 5-0.
Heisserer pointed to the fact that her team as put small differences aside and really begun to play as a team.
"Team unity has been a problem for us," she said. "But we sat down and talked some things out. We realized we have to move on from all those little things. We have done a great job of coming around from where we were with that. It's shown an impact immediately of how we can play when we play as a team. I really like the way things are starting to go for us."
Oran will be back on the diamond Monday when they visit Notre Dame.