Riders pick up victory over Redskins

ST. MARYS - When it came to free bases, St. Marys was stingy when it came to handing them out, but gracious on the receiving end.

The result was a 7-3 Roughrider softball victory over St. Henry on Monday at K.C. Geiger Park.

The Roughriders took advantage of three unearned runs to rally from a 3-1 deficit, and then padded their lead with three runs in the fifth, thanks in part to three walks and a hit batter.

On the flip side, St. Marys starting pitcher Adyson Van De Keere went the distance without allowing a walk, and the defense behind her played error-free.

"It's awesome. It's always great when we don't hand them base runners," St. Marys coach Kendra Solomon said. "We don't hand them anything extra, and every time we do that, we're fine."

St. Henry (6-7) earned a 2-0 lead in the top of the first with a couple big hits. Lauren Thieman led off the game with a double and scored one out later on Rya Buschur's home run over the fence in left center.

St. Marys (5-5) got a run back in the bottom half of the inning. Cadence Hirschfeld looped a lead-off single to left. Kelly Holsinger followed with a bunt to third, and when the throw to first was wide, Hirschfeld rounded the bases and scored.

The Redskins upped their advantage to 3-1 with a run in the third. Thieman ripped her second double in as many at-bats. She stole third on a heads-up play when no one was covering the bag, and then scored on a ground out to first by Natalie Schwieterman.

St. Henry starter Renee Wendel struck out the side in the third, and seemed to be in control until she walked the lead-off batter in the fifth. After a sacrifice bunt, the Redskins third error of the game scored the first run of the inning. Claire Turner tied the game with an RBI double and she would later score the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

"We got our bunts down when we needed them, took advantage of some errors, and made contact when we needed to," Solomon said. "We took advantage of what we had to take advantage of and that's part of the game, so I'll take it."

Leah Lefeld took over the mound duties for St. Henry in the fifth. After retiring the first batter she faced, the Riders loaded the bases with a walk, a single and a hit batter.

Kalley Smith followed with double in the right center gap to score two runs. Lefeld then walked the next to batters, forcing in the third insurance run of the inning and giving the Riders a 7-3 lead that would hold up to the end.

"I thought we were solid for the first three-ish innings," St. Henry coach Alexis Ontrop said. "We had a couple of errors and some walks that hurt us, but I thought we did a good job of jumping on their pitcher early. We hit the ball hard for the most part. They were just able to make some plays."

Van De Keere finished strong, retiring the final seven Redskins in order, including three strikeouts. Van De Keere scattered six hits and struck out eight.

"I think anytime our defense is having a good game, it helps her relax a little bit and focus on what she is supposed to do," Solomon said of her ace.

Thieman's two doubles and two runs-scored paced the St. Henry offense. Hirschfeld had two hits for the Riders.

St. Henry is back in action tonight with a home game against Russia. The Roughriders are on the road tonight with a Western Buckeye League showdown at Wapakoneta.