Softball Season Opener
The Scots’ softball team opened their season last weekend in Peoria with two games: the first against Mount Mary and the second against Elmhurst College. The ladies put up a hard fight in both games but ended the day with a pair of one-run losses.
Sophomore Makaylea Sepich picked up the first hit of the season with a double in the top of the first. Sophomore Olivia Riddley also got on base with a walk, but the Scots left runners on the corners to end the inning. Mount Mary took the lead in the third inning of the game with two singles and a sacrifice fly and then added two more runs in the fourth on three singles and a Scots’ error.
The Scots, however, got on the board in the fifth inning with senior Allie Ramlo hitting a double at the start of the inning. She then stole third base and scored on a double by senior Calista Warmowski.
Sophomore pitcher Abby Leber held Mount Mary scoreless over the next two frames. In the seventh inning, Ramlo planted an infield single and moved to second on a ground out. Sepich hit a double for Ramlo to score and brought the game score to 3-2. The game ended with Leber’s fly ball hitting the roof and the dome and being ruled an automatic out according to game rules.
In the second game of the day, Elmhurst took the lead with four runs in the second inning. They had a walk and six singles to end the frame with a 4-0 score. Monmouth, however, struck back in the fourth inning with junior MyKenzie Kloess scoring on a wild pitch. In the following inning, Warmowski hit a single with two outs and scored on a hit by senior Jessica Pauley.
The Scots cut their deficit to one in the bottom of the sixth inning with Ramlo laying down a sacrifice bunt to allow Kloess, already on third, to score. However, the score remained at 4-3 for the rest of the game, ending in a loss.
The Scots will play their next game on their spring break trip to Clermont, Florida against Gordon College on March 6.
Brooke McCormick - Sports Editor