Triad softball tied for second in league
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Photo by Anthony Jones: Andie Green drives a runner in against Columbia.
By Anthony Jones
sports.times.tribune@gmail.com
Triad softball has turned a corner over the past few weeks.
The once 4-8 Lady Knights have won seven of their last nine contests to improve to 11-10 overall. They have also won three of their last four Mississippi Valley Conference games to improve to 4-4 to be tied for second place in league standings.
The biggest of those league wins came on May 1 in a hosting of Highland. Prior to their visit to Troy, the Bulldogs had won 13 consecutive games and had a 6-0 start in league play.
A 4-0 first inning gave the early lead to the Lady Knights, but Highland chipped away at their deficit with two runs in both the second and third. The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game at 5-4 in the fifth inning.
Maddie Hart replaced Delaney Hess for Triad in the circle for the remaining frames, tossing two scoreless and allowing just three hits.
The game came down to the bottom of the seventh, where the Lady Knights delivered a two-run homerun. Their 6-5 victory over Highland marked their first win in the rivalry since 2019.
Logan Looby led the team’s offensive efforts with 4 RBI and a homerun. Also homering was Phoebe Feldman, who finished with 2 RBI.
Coach Kris Kleeman spoke of her team’s recent uptick in success, “We are playing pretty good ball right now. My seniors have stepped it up and done a nice job. Some of the younger girls have stepped up too. They’ve done a great job of processing through and learning some things and putting it all together.”
Two days later, the team traveled to Jersey. The Panthers entered with a 13-9 record and an 11-1 victory over the Lady Knights earlier in the season.
Scoring began in the bottom of the fifth, when the home team rallied for five runs off Hess, including an unearned run. Logan Looby, Andie Green and Hess would drive in a total of five Triad runs in the next two frames for a 5-5 tie.
Jersey walked off the game in the bottom of the seventh for a 6-5 win.
Triad’s week closed out with three games across May 5 and 6 as part of their home invite. They finished 2-1 over that stretch.
Their first win came on May 5 against the Belleville West Maroons. Belleville West scored once in the bottom of the first and twice in the seventh, but Triad tallied 11 runs in between for the win.
Hess tossed five frames in the win, while Hart retired six batters in relief.
With three RBI, Alyssa DeWitte led the victor’s offensive attack. Chloe Seger drove in two more, while Sam Jarman, Green, Hess and Feldman each picked up an RBI.
Less than 12 hours later, the team returned to play against the Murphysboro Red Devils.
A two-out, two-run rally by the Red Devils in the bottom of the third marked the game’s first offense. Those two tallies would be all Murphysboro could earn off Hart, who retired after five frames.
The end of the fifth proved to be a turning point for the Lady Knight offense as well, as they turned their 2-0 deficit into an 8-2 advantage.
Triad’s rally began with five consecutive hits from Sam Hartoin, Jarman, Seger, Feldman and Looby for a 4-2 lead. DeWitte added on an RBI single before Hartoin capitalized the frame with a three-run shot to center field.
Adding on insurance runs, Green and Syd Horn provided RBI singles in the seventh that led to an 11-2 final in favor of the Lady Knights.
Triad had an immediate turnaround for their final opponent of their invite. Their third game of the weekend was against the Columbia Eagles.
The early scoring all went in favor of the Eagles, who led 5-0 after four innings. In the top of the fifth, the Lady Knights earned their first run as Green drove Looby in off a double.
Triad began to build a comeback bid in the top of the seventh after a Dewitte single drew them within 5-2 with the tying run at the plate. This rally was ultimately quelled before any more damage was done.
Coach Kleeman discussed her team’s three games within 24 hours, “It’s a different format. We did play back-to-back and we’ve not played any double headers this year, so that was a new experience for us. Overall, I thought it was a good weekend for us.”
