By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
For the Effingham seniors, the fourth time proved to be the charm.
After losing the City Series for three consecutive years, the Lady Hearts seized the city championship Thursday afternoon by posting a 12-2 victory over St. Anthony.
That gave EHS a 2-0 lead in the best-of-3 series. Game 3 will be played today (Friday) at Effingham’s field. Game time is 4 p.m.
Sidney Donaldson homered, Ryley Engel continued her RBI barrage and Natalie Armstrong turned in a strong pitching performance, helping Effingham bring home the City Series trophy for the first time since 2021.
“Our seniors didn’t want to go 0-4,” EHS coach Jerry Trigg said. “Winning the City Series was a big deal to our seniors especially. I’m happy for them.”
But there was also a somber and sad moment in the game. It happened in the top of the second inning. On a play at second base, Ady Rios, St. Anthony’s standout senior shortstop suffered a serious lower leg injury. The game was halted and an ambulance was called in. She was later transported to a hospital in St. Louis.
“This kid is the heart and soul of our team,” said St. Anthony coach Makayla Taylor. “I just hate this for her. Last year, she broke her hand and came back. And I’m sure she’ll come back stronger than ever from this. She’s a tough kid.
“It’s hard to put into words how you feel when something like this happens,” Taylor added. “It reminds you there’s much more to life than a softball game.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The City Series softball trophy has not resided at Effingham High School since 2021.
The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs have captured the last three titles.
But the Effingham Lady Hearts took a first step toward regaining bragging rights by posting a 10-5 victory Wednesday afternoon on the EHS diamond.
Ryley Engel drove in four runs – three of which came on a fifth-inning home run in the decisive sixth inning – while Sydney Donaldson had three hits to lead a 14-hit barrage.
Game 2 is scheduled for today (Thursday) at 4 p.m. It will be played at Bulldog Field.
The Lady Hearts used a pair of four-run innings to build a commanding 10-1 lead. And had it not been for a terrific throw from St. Anthony rightfielder Ava Faber, cutting down Effingham’s Tessa Raddatz at the plate in the bottom of the fifth, the game would have been over due to the 10-run rule.
EHS started to take control in the bottom of the second inning. The score was tied 1-1 at the time.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
The Effingham Lady Hearts have been talking about the regional tournament all season.
“But their mindset was good,” EHS softball coach Jerry Trigg said. “They didn’t just want to get to the regional championship. They wanted to win it.”
All that talking became reality Friday afternoon.
The Lady Hearts broke out to a quick lead, belted three home runs and rode a strong pitching performance. That combination resulted in a convincing 9-1 victory over Salem in the championship game of the Highland Class 3A Regional.
It is the third regional title in school history and first since winning back-to-back regionals in 2016 and 2017.
“We’ve been to several regional championships through the years, but always seemed to get snake bitten in one way or another,” Trigg noted. “It’s nice to get that monkey off our back. And this is the first time we ever beat a higher seed (Effingham was seeded No. 3; Salem No. 2), which is good to finally do that.
“These girls came here expecting to win today,” Trigg added. “I’m really happy for them.”
EHS wasted no time seizing control of the game.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Errors can be killers.
The Effingham Lady Hearts committed four of them Tuesday afternoon.
They got by with the first two, but the final two accounted for three runs and that proved to be the difference.
The Freeburg Midgets were the beneficiaries of those miscues, posting a 4-2 victory in a semifinal game of the Waterloo Class 3A Sectional.
“I think we were a little nervous,” EHS coach Jerry Trigg said following the game. “Freeburg is a very good team, but we just didn’t make the plays we’re capable of. I wish we would have played a little better.”
The Midgets, who improved to 31-3 and will now face Waterloo for the sectional championship, entered the semifinal game as the heavy favorite. Especially with standout pitcher Samantha Roulanaitis the mound.
The senior entered the game with an ERA of .089, having given up just 18 earned runs in 21 starts. She was also averaging 13 strikeouts a game – nearly two per inning.
But she faced a Lady Hearts team that was not intimidated and came out swinging the bats. They ended up with five hits, including two by Alyssa Martin that sailed over the leftfield fence, and only struck out three times.
Sidney Donaldson, Alyssa Martin and Natalie Armstrong each belted home runs, and Raegan Boone collected four hits and scored four times.
That offensive combination helped the Effingham Lady Hearts pull away and post a 13-6 victory Tuesday over Highland in a semifinal game of the Highland Class 3A Regional.
EHS, the No. 3 seed, fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning, but then turned their bats loose.
In the bottom of the first, Donaldson got things started with a two-run blast that put the Lady Hearts on top to stay.
In the second, Ryley Engel led off with a walk and Martin followed by driving a pitch over the leftfield fence. With one out, Saige Althoff walked, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Boone. She also stole second base and came around to score on an error by the Highland catcher. Jerzi Bierman then doubled and Armstrong capped the six-run frame by belting a two-run homer to extend Effingham’s lead to 8-1.
The Lady Hearts added three more runs in the third and wrapped up their scoring with a four-run fifth.
All nine batters got at least one hit in the 14-hit attack. Bierman, Donaldson, Armstrong and Martin each had two. Donaldson and Martin both had three RBI.
Althoff got the win. She went all seven innings, allowing 11 hits and six runs. She didn’t walk a batter and struck out four.
The Lady Hearts, who improved to 22-10, will now play for the regional championship. They will face either Salem or Mattoon at 4:30 p.m. Friday.
Page 1 of 11
