Panthers hold on to beat Roughriders

ROCKFORD - Parkway and St. Marys went toe-to-toe for five innings before the Panthers put the game away in the bottom of the sixth to pick up a 7-3 win over the Roughriders in an MAC vs. WBL softball matchup at the Panther diamond.

Parkway (2-0) scored first and never trailed as the Roughriders answered the early deficits.

"We'd score. They'd answer," Parkway coach Mark Esselstein said. "There's a couple times we made good escapes. Our defense made plays when they had to."

"Got to give our kids credit. I'm happy. Very pleased with the outcome even though we didn't come out on top," Roughriders coach Sue Grothause said. "My kids didn't quit. Going against a great Parkway team. ... Got to give them a lot of credit."

RBI singles from Haley Hawk in the first inning and Alyssa Miller in the second plated the first two Parkway runs, but St. Marys stormed back in the top of the third. Kylie Lauth led off with a single. Jennifer Lauth dropped a perfect bunt and reached on a single with Kylie Lauth scoring when the throw to third was wild. Jennifer Lauth later scored on a Lexi Fowler single.

Parkway regained the lead in the fourth as Alisa Gray singled, stole second, went to third on a grounder and then scored on Ashley Clark's grounder to second.

Just as quickly, St. Marys tied the game again in the fifth. Madi Howell led off with a single. After courtesy runner Emilee Bott stole second and went to third on a wild pitch, Fowler singled to left to bring home the run.

Parkway took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth as Alyx Slusher hit her third double of the day. After Slusher went to third on a wild pitch, Hawk lofted a deep-enough fly to center to bring home the run.

The Roughriders (1-1) tried to level or even take the lead in the top of the sixth as Rachel Ziegenbusch and Kylie Lauth reached on back-to-back singles to start the inning. After Jennifer Lauth bunted the runners up a base, Allison Langsdon blooped a pop fly to the short grass past second base, but Bailey Bates used an over-the-shoulder catch to make the out. After Esselstein ordered Howell to be intentionally walked, Selena Burtch struck out Josalyn Schamp to end the threat.

"Bailey ran down that pop that looked like it was going to drop and got a big out," Esselstein said. "We walked (Howell) to load the bases. That turned out well. Selena made good pitches."

Parkway scored three insurance runs in its last at-bat. Miller came home on a Mackenzie Sipe bunt single. Bailey Bates followed Miller home when Slusher grounded to second and Sipe later scored on an error.

"I think we got tired at the end," Grothause said. "Madi got a little tired, but I can't take anything away from her. She pitched a helluva game."

"I love what my bottom of the order was able to do," Esselstein said, referring to Clark and Miller each driving in runs.

Selena Burtch allowed runners on first and second in the final inning. However, she later wrapped up her second win of the season with a strikeout of Kylie Lauth.

"St. Marys is a much-improved team over what they've been the past couple of years," Esselstein said. "They're going to win a bunch of games."

Gray went 3-for-3 with two runs scored for the Panthers. Burtch had two hits.

Fowler went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Howell and Kylie Lauth also had two hits each.

Both teams face neighboring rivals on Thursday. Parkway travels to Celina to face the Bulldogs and St. Marys heads south on state route 66 to face New Bremen.