Seward Softball Wins Three of Four in El Paso

Brock Kappelmann - February 6, 2017 6:48 am

The Seward County Lady Saints made short work of the El Paso Tejanas Friday afternoon on the Texas/Mexico border, sweeping their way to a doubleheader sweep with 13-1 and 12-3 run rule victories to open their 2017 season 2-0.

It didn’t take long for the Lady Saints to get things going in game one of the twinbill as Maycee Koontz doubled home a pair in the 2nd inning and Kristyna Garcia followed that up with a two run double of her own to push Seward out to a 4-0 lead. They weren’t done yet though in the 2nd as Jullian Atteberry blasted a two run double of her own to make it 6-0 and Seward tacked on two more later in the frame to finish off an eight run inning to go in front 8-0.

Lady Saints starter Monique Ashley throwing in her first career game, breezed through the Tejanas lineup 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 2nd and Seward added two more in the top of the 3rd on a home run from Garcia to make it 10-0.

Seward added another run in the top of the 4th and El Paso got their only tally of the game in the bottom half to make it 11-1 and the Lady Saints put up a pair of insurance runs in the 5th to finish the Tejanas off 13-1 for a run rule win.

The Lady Saints needed just 10 hits for their 13 runs as they took advantage of eight walks and six El Paso errors. Garcia powered the Seward offense with a pair of hits and four RBI’s in the win while Atteberry had two hits and two RBI’s in her Lady Saints debut. Ashley earned the win in the circle, coasting through five innings, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out seven to collect her first career victory.

SEWARD COUNTY/EL PASO GAME ONE BOX SCORE<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2016-17/boxscores/20170203_elrx.xml>

Seward again jumped on the Tejanas early in game two as Leena Mortensen drove home a run with an RBI single and Koontz scored on a passed ball to give the Lady Saints a 2-0 lead in the 1st.

The Lady Saints added another tally in the 2nd on a sac fly from Koontz to make it 3-0 and a two run home run from Kaitlin Ammermann made it 5-0 Seward after three.

Taylor Kathler doubled to lead off the 4th for Seward and it would start a big frame for the gals in green. Kathler later scored on an RBI single from Koontz and another RBI single from Sydney Epp made it an 8-0 game. Atteberry then launched a double to the wall in center to plate two more and she scored on a single from Sage Harrison later in the inning giving the Lady Saints a commanding 11-0 lead after 3 ½.

Seward starter Ruby Gonzalez kept El Paso off the board once again in the bottom of the 4th and Lexi Manyik popped a solo home run to start the Lady Saints 5th to make it a 12-0 game.

El Paso finally broke through with three runs in the bottom of the 5th, but it was two less than they needed to keep the game going as Seward sewed up a 12-3 run rule win to sweep the doubleheader.

The Lady Saints bashed out 15 hits in the five inning win, getting at least one hit from all nine players in the starting lineup. Mortensen and Epp each had three hits in the win while four different Lady Saints including Epp had multi-RBI games. Gonzalez earned the win on the rubber for Seward, going the distance while allowing three hits and three runs to pick up her first collegiate victory.

SEWARD COUNTY/EL PASO GAME TWO BOX SCORE<http://sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2016-17/boxscores/20170203_mwu5.xml>

Seward freshman Monique Ashley spun the first shutout of what Lady Saints fans hope to be many in her Seward career Saturday afternoon in El Paso as the gals in green took on the McCook Indians, but Seward dropped game two of their split twinbill to El Paso 8-7 to finish their opening weekend 3-1.

In their first game of the day, Seward took on the McCook Indians. It didn’t take long for the Lady Saints to get on the board as Macy Koontz reached base to begin the game and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Sydney Epp to put Seward up 1-0.

Seward had a chance to add to their lead in the 2nd as they loaded the bases with one out, but a double play ended the threat as they remained in front 1-0.

Lady Saints starter Monique Ashley worked a quick 1-2-3 bottom of the 2nd that included a pair of strikeouts to keep Seward in front and it remained a 1-0 game all the way through the 5th.

An RBI single from Kristyna Garcia in the 6th added an insurance run for Seward, but they wouldn’t need it as Ashley breezed through the Indian lineup in the 6th and 7th to finish off the shutout and give the Lady Saints a 2-0 win

Ashley was locked in front start to finish in the shutout victory, allowing just four hits while striking out seven and not walking a single batter to improve to 2-0. Seward pounded out 11 hits, getting two hits apiece from Kaitlin Ammermann, Taylor Kathler, Lexi Manyik, and Leena Mortensen.

SEWARD COUNTY/MCCOOK BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2016-17/boxscores/20170204_ry3n.xml>

The Lady Saints looked well on their way to 4-0 early on against El Paso in the second game of their doubleheader. Seward got on the board right away on an RBI single from Epp in the 1st and got a three run bomb from Jullian Atteberry after that to push their lead to 4-0. After finally recording their first out, Seward was back at it again as Kathler doubled home a run and later scored alongside Manyik on a double from Koontz to make it 7-0 Lady Saints before El Paso even got to hit.

The Tejanas answered with a two run first of their own to make it 7-2 and scored three more times in the 3rd to slice the Seward lead to 7-5.

The Lady Saints offense went missing after the 1st and El Paso took advantage by plating two more in the 4th to tie the score at 7.

Seward went down in order for the third time in four innings in the 5th and El Paso blasted a solo home run to take their first lead of the game at 8-7.

Koontz singled to start the Seward 6th and Epp walked to put two on with one out, but the middle of the Lady Saints lineup couldn’t get it done, stranding both runners at innings end to remain down by one 8-7.

Seward would give it one more go in the 7th, but couldn’t get anything going, as the side was fanned 1-2-3 to hand the Lady Saints their first loss of the year 8-7.

The Lady Saints went ice cold after the hot start, failing to score again after their seven run first. El Paso outhit Seward 10-9 and each team committed one error. Koontz finished 2 for 3 with two RBI’s and a run scored while Atteberry led Seward with three RBI’s on her first inning bomb. Macy Pritchard took the loss in her Seward debut, going 2 1/3, allowing two hits and one run to fall to 0-1 in the year.

SEWARD COUNTY/EL PASO BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/sball/2016-17/boxscores/20170204_xneq.xml>

The Lady Saints finish the weekend 3-1 with the split.

Seward will be back in action next weekend in Midland, Texas where they will take part in the Midland College Classic Tournament Friday and Saturday.

 
 
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