Seward Mercy Rules Beavers Twice

LIBERAL, Kan. – The Seward County softball team (11-11, 4-0) came away with two wins on Wednesday, both in the form of the mercy-rule, defeating the Pratt Beavers 19-0 in game one of their doubleheader before taking game two 10-2. Both games lasted just five innings.

GAME ONE RECAP

Monique Ashley (10-3) picked up the win in the first game, throwing a no-hitter in the five-innings pitched. A walk in the fourth inning prevented her from having a perfect game. She struck out 10 Beavers in the outing.

The Lady Saints came away with 17 hits in the game and 18 RBI. Sage Harrison had a monster day at the plate, batting in six runs from two home runs, including a grand slam. Freshman Corinna Porras wasn’t far behind, coming away with 5 RBI.

Scoring started in the second inning for the Lady Saints. With the bases loaded, Corinna Porras hit a bases clearing double to left field to put Seward up 3-0.

A huge third inning by the Lady Saints promptly put the game out of reach. Kaitlin Ammermann singled to left field to lead off the inning before Madeline Owen and Harrison knocked back-to-back home runs to put the score at 6-0.

The wasn’t finished as two singles and a walk loaded the bases. A passed ball allowed Leena Mortensen to score from third, while Paige St. Pierre walked to load the bases again. Porras walked with the next at bat to score a run before Jullian Atteberry hit a two-run single to left field to score Miranda Nester and St. Pierre. Ammermann grounded out to second base, but scored Porras to bring home the eighth run of the inning. Harrison finished the inning with an RBI single to centerfield to score Atteberry making it 12-0.

Three more strikeouts by Ashley kept the Beavers off the board before the Lady Saints could get seven more runs. Nester led off with a singled, while St. Pierre was hit by a pitch. Porras scored another run with an error to first bases, pushing Nester home and advancing St. Pierre to third. Back-to-back singles by Atteberry and Ammermann score runs to make it 15-0. Owen walked with the next at-bat to load the bases for Harrison. Following five foul balls, Harrison hit a no-double grand slam to left field to make it 19-0.

GAME TWO RECAP

Jordan Cordrey (1-6) picked up her first win of the year with a solid five-inning outing. She gave up just two runs on three hits, while striking out three batters.

The Lady Saints stayed hot to start game two, knocking in three runs in the first inning. Atteberry and Ammermann both reached on singles. Owen hit a two-run single to centerfield and would later score on an error from the shortstop to make it 3-0.

The Beavers scored their first run of the day in the top of the second with a leadoff home run by Marisa Jonas, but the Lady Saints quickly got that run back and more. St. Pierre hit a leadoff double and promptly stole third, scoring on a Porras single to right field. Owen scored Porras on a double to centerfield. Owen reached home following a Harrison single off an error by the third basemen to bring the game to 6-1.

Pratt got another run in the fourth, stealing home. Seward couldn’t score any in the fourth, but made up for by ending the game in the bottom of the fifth. Sydney Epp reached on a double to centerfield before Nester hit a hard ground ball up the middle to bring Epp home.

Two batters later, Porras singled to centerfield. Nester turned on the burners to reach home, scoring with a dropped ball by the catcher. Needing two runs to mercy-rule the Beavers, Atteberry stepped up and brought home one run from a ground out to the pitcher before Ammermann ended the game with a single to left field scoring Porras to make it 10-2.

Seward will travel to Dodge City for a double header against the Conquistadors. The games will begin at 2 and 4 p.m.