Softball Team Notches Two MVC Victories
By J.W. Campbell, Sportswriter
Midway through the conference season, the Triad Lady Knights grabbed a share of the Mississippi Valley Conference lead on Monday, April 22 with a convincing 11-2 road win over the Highland Bulldogs.
After their recent meeting, both Triad and Highland sport 4-1 conference records and sit atop the league standings.
The Lady Knights hammered out 13 hits in the game including a pair of home runs.
Triad scored a run in both the first and second innings and tacked on three more tallies in the fifth to make it a 5-0 game. Both teams scored twice in the sixth, before the Lady Knights put the game out of reach with four additional runs in the top of the seventh.
Liz Young led the Triad offense with a 4-for-4 day that included a home run and five runs batted in. Isabelle Lehan went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Caroline Lehan went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. Payton Bode also homered for Triad while driving in two runs.
Young not only turned in a stellar performance in the batter’s box, she also shined in the pitching circle. She went the distance allowing two runs on six hits and no walks. She fanned three Bulldogs.
The win raises Triad’s overall record to 13-5. Highland drops to 8-5 on the year with the loss.
On Wednesday, April 17, the Lady Knights eked out a 3-2 victory over the Mascoutah Indians at Triad.
In a game where the Lady Knights stranded 12 runners, they were able to push across three runs in the bottom of the third inning. The big blow in the inning was a two-run double by Dallas Zirkelbach that plated two runners.
“Dallas had an amazing game both offensively and defensively,” Triad Coach Kris Kleeman said. “Her double was big because we had some trouble getting runners home. We had no problem getting people on, we just didn’t have a lot of success scoring them.”
Mascoutah plated its runs in the top of the second when they took advantage of a walk, a hit by pitch, a Triad error and a base hit to collect two tallies. The error in the frame was one of three boots committed by the Lady Knights.
Despite some miscues behind her, Young was able to make the Triad lead hold up. She went the distance allowing two runs, neither of which were earned, on two hits and four walks. She struck out a season-high 13 batters.
Offensively, Triad scored three runs on seven hits and six walks. Jenna Bohnenstiehl was the only Lady Knight with more than one hit in the game. She went 2-for-4 in the contest. Coming up with a hit each were Zirkelbach, Caroline Lehan, Isabelle Lehan, Shiane Taylor and Sydney Wildhaber.
The Lady Knights were slated to host Civic Memorial on Wednesday, April 24 before traveling to O’Fallon for a non-conference game on Friday, April 26. Results of the CM game were not available at press time. Next week the Knights start with three games in three days, beginning with a home game against Jerseyville on Monday, April 29. Tuesday, April 30 has Triad journeying to Edwardsville for a game against Metro-East Lutheran before going to Waterloo on May 1 for an MVC clash with the Bulldogs.
