Menu
Nash powers Farmington over Sikeston 11-1
SIKESTON -- Sikeston tried giving Farmington's Kaila Nash a free base.
She took two.
It was that kind of day for Nash as she helped power Farmington past Sikeston 11-1 in six innings Wednesday at the Sikeston Sports Complex.
Nash wound up with two 3-run home runs, two doubles and eight RBIs. She also earned the pitching win.
"It was a pretty good day," Nash said.
This type of performance has been typical according to Farmington head coach Lindsey Albee.
"She has improved vastly over the last four years," Albee said about Nash. "She's taken that leadership role and she's been lights out this year. Hitting, pitching -- she does it all."
Nash made her presence felt early belting the first of her two 3-run home runs in the top of the first inning. Alyson Tucker reached on an infield error, Olivia Siebert walked and Nash sent them all home with a shot to centerfield.
"We ran into some firepower and that's something we haven't seen before," Sikeston head coach Eric Voorhees said. "(Nash) is different level. She was able to hit the ball wherever we put it essentially at will."
After a scoreless second inning, Nash hit a double to give Farmington (6-0) a 4-0 lead. An RBI single by Hannah Hight quickly followed to put the Knightettes, who had 11 hits, up by five.
Albee was glad to see her team hit Sikeston pitcher Madison Smith well. She felt it was the first time all season the Knightettes saw enough quality pitching to gauge just how well her offense is.
"Lately we've been facing pitching that hasn't been real great but today we saw that," Albee said. "We were able to get hits so that was exciting to see. Hopefully in the future we'll continue to see better pitching and we'll still be ready for it."
Following another RBI single by Emily Briese in the fourth inning, Nash hit her second home run of the game giving her team a commanding 9-0 advantage.
"A few balls were left up to Kaila (Nash) and she's the type of player that you don't leave balls up to," Voorhees said. "They had other girls that can hit too. The heart of their lineup squared up on the ball almost every time."
During Nash's next at-bat, Sikeston made the move to intentionally walk Farmington's power hitter. The first pitch was right down the middle for a strike. The third pitch was sent to the fence in centerfield for a double.
"She's always ready," Albee laughed.
Nash was also helping her own cause at the plate. The senior gave up one earned run on six hits while striking out eight.
She held Sikeston (3-2) scoreless until the bottom of the sixth inning which was the only earned run gave up by Nash this season. Six hits is also the most hits she's given up in one game as well.
Albee said that Sikeston is the first team to hit Nash hard this season and is the most hits she's given up as well. Out of Sikeston's six hits, four of them went for extra bases.
"I was proud of the girls for fighting back towards the end and I'm glad we were able to get some hits," said Voorhees. "Our offense is better but we're still fighting to get to that next level."
Maggie Shepherd led Sikeston with two hits. Shepherd's triple in the sixth inning pushed across Kylie Noe for Sikeston's first and only run of the game. Noe hit a triple during the at-bat before.
Ashton Drake hit Sikeston's third triple of the game to leadoff the fifth. Myca Martin and Madeline Witt were the other two Sikeston players who had a hit against Nash. Witt's was a double in the fourth inning.
"I thought we put the ball in play early but they made great defensive plays," Voorhees said. "We just weren't able to dig through and put ourselves in a hole early with that 3-run shot. We played from behind the whole game."
Sikeston's next game will be part of the Notre Dame Softballfest. They will play Chaffee at Notre Dame High School at 4:30 p.m.
Farmington 302 402 -- 11 11 0
Sikeston 000 001 -- 1 6 2
WP -- Kaila Nash. LP -- Madison Smith. Mulitple hitters: (F) Nash 4-4, Hannah Hight 2-4. (S) Maggie Shepherd 2-3. 2B: (F) Nash 2, Hight. (S) Madeline Witt. 3B: (F) Olivia Siebert. (S) Kylie Noe, Shepherd, Ashton Drake. HR: (F) Nash 2.