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Adyson Van De Keere became St. Marys' career strikeout leader in the win over Kenton.
ST. MARYS - A 10-1 win is always a great sight, but creating history is even better.
St. Marys faced little pressure in their big Western Buckeye League win over Kenton at K.C. Geiger Park, while pitcher Adyson Van De Keere's 11 strikeout game was enough to move her to the top of the program's strike out list with 518, and counting, for her career.
"We are always very proud of her," St. Marys coach Kendra Solomon said of Van De Keere. "She's been a worker since she was little, and it paid off. Even in games where she felt like she didn't do well, she goes right back at it and wants to figure out why, and that's the type of leadership she shows by example with how hard she works. We're proud of her and proud to have had her for four years."
It was a fast start for the righty pitcher, who struck out three Wildcats in the first to quickly get the bats up. Leading off, Van De Keere roped a single up the middle to get the rally started. Ava Klosterman put the Roughriders on the board a few batters later with her two-run single that whizzed right past Kenton pitcher Alexis Ratliff.
Three more strikeouts from Van De Keere later and St. Marys was back up to bat looking for more. Calaianna Bond-Awls found more when her one-out grounder to third resulted in a bad throw and a pair of runs across the board, with Makenna Meinerding and Shayleigh Burd hustling to make it a 4-0 game.
Bond-Awls' smart running on the base paths made it 5-0 after a wild pitch and the Riders were cruising. Kenton found the board in the third on a double from Brayla Butler, but that was all. Van De Keere broke the program record with her strikeout of leadoff hitter Emori Criner.
St. Marys' Calianna Bond-Awls slides safely to score off a passed ball against Kenton in a rescheduled Western Buckeye League softball contest at KC Geiger Park.
Still ahead 5-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth, St. Marys' day was not done at the plate. Van De Keere led off the frame with a double and a wild pitch got the runner to third. Bond-Awls followed and lifted a ball to centerfield, which allowed Berg to score on the sac-fly.
Singles from Ayden Young and Klosterman put two-on for Kailey Smith, who wasted no time. Smith took the first pitch to right field and just under the dive of Peyton Rudasill as Young ran home to make it 7-1. Klosterman took advantage of a low pitch the following at bat and sprinted home for the team's eighth run of the game.
St. Marys' Ava Klosterman (left) applies the tag to Kenton's Kylee Kavanagh.
Run number nine came from Clair Turner after her grounder scored Smith as the Riders took the 9-1 lead into the fifth inning. One more strikeout from Van De Keere highlighted the top half of the fifth, the final inning for the pitcher.
She finished her night with 11 strikeouts in five innings of work, while allowing one unearned run off four hits with one walk.
Raegan Caffee led off the bottom half of the fifth by earning a five-pitch walk, and worked her way to third with a steal and a wild pitch. Facing some pressure with Bond-Awls up, Ratliff's pitch found more dirt and Caffee scored with a slide to make it 10-1 Riders.
Ryleigh Berg pitched the final two innings with little trouble, and St. Marys took the win in comfortable fashion. Berg finished with three strikeouts while giving up just one hit.
"We've had a couple of up and down weeks, so it was good to see them come out swinging with confidence and hit the ball hard," Solomon said.
Kenton's Ratliff took the loss after five innings of work where five of the 10 runs were unearned. She struck out three and walked just two.
