Green Unlucky for Seward Softball

The Seward County Lady Saints picked up their third and fourth straight victories on Thursday, knocking off Williston State and South Mountain in a split doubleheader in Phoenix to improve to 28-9 on the year.

In their first game of the day, the Lady Saints took on Williston State. Seward wasted no time in getting on the board, plating a pair of runs in the bottom half of the 1st inning to jump ahead 2-0 after one.

Williston got a run back in the 2nd and another in the 4th, tying the game at four midway through.

Doubles from Maycee Koontz and Leena Mortensen in the bottom of the 4th put Seward back in front for good and an RBI single from Kristyna Garcia made the Lady Saints lead 4-2.

Garcia was back at it again in the 6th with a two run single to make it 6-2 and a bases clearing double from Alexis Cuellar pushed the Lady Saints lead to 9-2 later in the inning. With the run rule looming, Paige St. Pierre laced a single to left scoring Cuellar to end the game in a 10-2 Seward County victory.

Seward pounded out 14 hits in the win, getting three hits at the top of the order from Koontz and three RBI’s a piece from Garcia and Cuellar. Ruby Gonzalez earned the win in the circle, working through all six innings, allowing six hits and two runs to improve to 7-2 on the year.

SEWARD COUNTY/WILLISTON STATE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2016-17/boxscores/20170316_u311.xml>

In their second game of the afternoon the Lady Saints took on the Cougars of South Mountain. The Lady Saints again took an early lead as Cuellar singled home Garcia in the top of the 2nd to put Seward on top 1-0 after 1 ½.

Seward added to their lead in the 3rd as Jullian Atteberry singled home a run and Leena Mortensen laced a double to make it 3-0.

The teams traded runs in their next at bats to make it a 4-1 game before a three run Cougar home run tied the score at four in the 4th.

It remained 4-4 after five when the Lady Saints broke the tie on a two out, two run double from Jordan Garrison to put them in front 6-4.

South Mountain looked to answer as they loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning, but Seward reliever Monique Ashley induced a pop up on the infield to end the threat to keep the Lady Saints on top by two.

Seward couldn’t add any insurance in the 7th, but they didn’t need to as Ashley worked a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half to preserve the 6-4 win for the Lady Saints.

The Lady Saints outhit the Cougars 11-9 in the win, getting three hits from Garcia in the middle of the lineup and two each from Cuellar and Koontz. Ashley picked up her 16th win of the season, coming in for 3 1/3 inning of scoreless relief, allowing just one hit while striking out seven.

SEWARD COUNTY/SOUTH MOUNTAIN BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2016-17/boxscores/20170316_uapb.xml>

Friday

The Seward County Lady Saints were three outs away from a win against #8 Central Arizona Friday afternoon in Coolidge, Arizona, but the Vaqueros stormed back for two in the 7th to win game one 2-1 and carried the momentum into game two for a 13-2 win to bring an abrupt end to the Lady Saints four game Spring Break win streak.

Runs were at a premium in game one of the doubleheader as through three innings, Seward was kept off the board and Central Arizona managed just a single baserunner in the 0-0 game.

Seward put two on with nobody out but couldn’t score in the 4th and Central went down in order for the third time in four innings to keep the game scoreless after four.

A leadoff double by Paige St. Pierre in the 5th got Seward going and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jordan Garrison scored her later in the frame to give the Lady Saints a 1-0 lead.

Seward starter Monique Ashley again twirled 1-2-3 frames in the 5th and 6th to keep the 8th ranked Vaqueros at bay and her Lady Saints up 1-0 into the 7th.

The Lady Saints couldn’t add any insurance in the 7th and it would come back to haunt them as Central broke out of their offensive slump with three straight singles in the bottom of the inning and used Seward’s lone error of the game to their favor, scoring the equalizer and the game winner to stun the Lady Saints 2-1 in walk off fashion.

The game featured just 11 hits, six for Seward and five for Central Arizona. Kristyna Garcia was the only Lady Saint with more than one hit in the contest while Garrison had the lone Seward RBI in the loss. Ashley was flawless until the 7th, allowing just one hit to that point. She suffered just her second loss of the season, falling to 16-2, ultimately yielding four hits and two unearned runs while striking out four.

SEWARD COUNTY/#8 CENTRAL ARIZONA GAME ONE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2016-17/boxscores/20170317_7gae.xml>

Central carried their momentum from game one right over into game two, jumping all over the Lady Saints early 9-1 after just two innings of action.

A Jullian Atteberry solo home run to start the 3rd stopped the Vaquero momentum for a moment, but Central answered with a run in the 3rd and three more in the 4th to take a 13-2 lead.

Seward put two on in the 5th but couldn’t push anything across, kicking in the run rule after five in a 13-2 defeat.

The Lady Saints had six hits in the loss, but committed four errors, leading to nine unearned runs for Central Arizona. No Lady Saint had more than one hit in the loss and Atteberry’s home run was the only extra base knock. Sydney Epp took the loss, falling to 2-2 on the year, allowing 10 hits and four earned runs on the rubber.

SEWARD COUNTY/#8 CENTRAL ARIZONA GAME TWO BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2016-17/boxscores/20170317_b68f.xml>

Seward falls to 28-11 with the losses while Central Arizona improves to 25-6.

The Lady Saints will return home from the desert and head to Great Bend on Wednesday where they will take on the Barton Cougars in a big Jayhawk West Conference doubleheader beginning at 2:00.