Ranging to the right — Mater Dei freshman Harper O’Brien ranges to her right on a first-inning grounder in the Lady Knights’ 5-4 win over rival Central on Wednesday. The shortstop was 1-for-2 with a single, a walk and a run scored. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO The Central Cougars softball team had an up-and-down week with two Cahokia Conference wins over Roxana while they dropped nonconference tilts to Greenville and Mater Dei.
The Lady Cougars are now 12-10 on the season and 4-2 in Cahokia play. They hosted Columbia on Tuesday and will play at Columbia on Thursday.
The win for Mater Dei was their only contest of the week as they moved to 9-12 on the season.
The Lady Knights are off until this Saturday when they have a two-team double header when they play Flora at noon and Johnston City at 2 p.m. with both games at Johnston City.
Greenville 10, Central 1: It was all Comets from start to finish in their nonconference win over the Lady Cougars on Friday.
After two scoreless innings, the Comets soared in the third inning with a single tally before garnering seven in the fourth inning and single tallies in the fifth and seventh frames.
Central got their lone run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Addison Singler led off with a single, before the next two hitters struck out. She moved to second on a passed ball, stole third and scored on a wild pitch as they trailed 9-1.
Kaitlyn Lurkins was the story of the game as she went the distance for the win, allowing one earned run and scattered eight hits and two walks while she struck out four batters. At the dish, she was 4-for-4 with three singles, a homer, a run scored and three batted in.
Payton White was 3-for-5 with a single, a double, a triple, two RBI and three runs scored.
Dalanee Materkowski was the losing pitcher, tossing three innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits, no walks and one strikeout.
Singler and Kate Johnson each had two singles for the Cougars who had all eight of their hits accounted for by singles.
That’s a theft — Roxana base runner Madison John slides into second base safely ahead of Taylor Trame who makes a strong play to corral the ball. Madison Ahle is backing up the play in the Cougars’ 5-4 win over the Shells on Tuesday in Breese. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO Central 4, Roxana 3 (8 innings): The Lady Cougars worked around four fielding errors in their season-sweep over the Shells on the road on Thursday.
Central used one mighty swing of the bat to take the lead early on in the first inning, before having to steal the win in extra innings.
Central went to work in the top of the first inning when Madison Ahle and Reese Renth each singled. After a fly out, Taylor Trame connected on a long, three-run homer to left for a 3-0 lead.
Roxana responded in the bottom of the inning with a solo tally.
The Shells got another single tally in the second inning on a single from Raegan Martin and an RBI single from Kassidy Schuyler to get within 3-2.
Roxana tied things up with one out in the seventh inning when Madison John singled and later scored on a wild pitch for a 3-3 game.
Central regained the lead in the top of the eighth inning when Eden Campanella doubled to the gap before moving to third on a ground out. Campanella crossed on a passed ball to gain a 4-3 cushion.
Campanella got a groundout and two strikeouts in the bottom of the inning to secure the victory.
Campanella was 2-for-3 with a double and a single while Trame’s lone hit was the three-run homer. Central got two walks from Materkowski in a game where they out hit Roxana 8-7.
Campanella was the winning pitcher as she went 2-1/3 innings of relief where she allowed one unearned run on one hit, one walk and two strikeouts.
Dalanee Materkowski pitched the first 5-2/3 innings and allowed one earned run on six hits, two walks and a punch out in her no-decision.
Have a Dei — Mater Dei sophomore second baseman Ellisen Wheelan uses two hands to corral a grounder in the first inning of the Knights’ walkoff win over Central on Wednesday. Wheelan was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. PHOTO BY JEREMY CHAWGO Mater Dei 5, Central 4: The Lady Knights walked it off against the rival Cougars on Wednesday in Breese.
The Cougars took charge with an unearned run in the first inning before MD scored twice in the third and once in the fifth to take the lead.
Central got a three-run homer in their final at bat in the top of the seventh inning before MD walked it off in the bottom of the inning.
Ellisen Wheelan was the story of the game as she was 3-for-4 with two singles, two stolen bases, a run scored and four batted in. Senior Taylor Robert was 2-for-3 from the leadoff spot with two singles, a walk, four stolen bases and two runs scored.
She was also the winning pitcher in relief as she went the final three innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits, one walk and three punch outs.
Freshman Eden Campanella paced the Cougars’ offense with a single, a homer, a walk, a run scored and a three-run homer in the seventh inning. Reese Renth added two singles and a run scored.
Dalanee Materkowski took the loss as she tossed two innings and allowed three earned runs on four hits, one walk and one strikeout.
Mater Dei committed the lone two errors in the contest while they out hit the Cougars 9-8.
The Cougars got on the board in the first inning when Madison Ahle reached on an infield error and scored on a ground out from Taylor Trame for a 1-0 lead. CHS stranded two runners on base.
Mater Dei took the lead at 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning when Angeleen Wesselmann singled to leadoff before Harper O’Brien and Chloe Engelman all singled to load the bases.
After the first out was retired, Wheelan singled to the gap to score Wesselmann and O’Brien for a 3-1 lead. MD stranded two runners on base in the inning.
MD got two more to take a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning when Robert reached on a single before stealing second base and scoring on a single from Wheelan. Wheelan stole third base and scored on a ground out.
The game stayed there until the top of the seventh inning where the Cougars mounted a rally.
After the first batter was retired, Madison Ahle singled to center and Renth did the same. Campanella took the first pitch she saw and pounded it the other way for a three-run homer to tie the contest 4-4.
Mater Dei wasted no time in the bottom of the inning when Robert led off with an infield single and she stole second base. Wheelan took a 3-2 pitch into the game for a game-winning RBI double to give MD the one-run victory.
Central 5, Roxana 4: The Cougars blew a late-inning lead before walking off the Shells with their first of two wins against their conference foes on Tuesday in Breese.
Eden Campanella was doing the pitching work while the Cougars’ offense got their start in the bottom of the third inning.
The Cougars got a solo homer with two outs from Kate Johnson who powered the ball out to left field for a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth inning and they got one tally on a sacrifice fly from Taylor Trame for a 2-0 lead.
Roxana answered with four runs in the top of the seventh inning with the help of a leadoff walk.
After a strikeout, Roxana returned the favor, allowing Campanella to reach on a fielding error before Johnson singled to left to bring up the potential game-winning run.
Trame connected on the first pitch she saw and belted a game-winning, three-run, walk off homer to left field for the 5-4 victory.
Johnson was 2-for-4 with a homer, a single, an RBI and two runs scored. Trame was 2-for-3 with a homer, a single, one run scored and four batted in. The Cougars left eight runners on base.
Karli Thole stole two bases for the Cougars who out hit the Shells 9-4. Campanella went the distance for the victory as she allowed four unearned runs on four hits, two walks and a dozen strikeouts.
