As she has done many times this year, lead-off batter Raegan Boone got things started. She hit a ground ball to the right of the second baseman and then used her speed to beat the throw for an infield single. She then stole second and went to third on a ground out by Jerzi Bierman.

And then five batters in a row reached base.

Sidney Donaldson grounded a single between short and third to drive in the first run. Natalie Armstrong walked and Mya Harvey lined a double down the leftfield line that rolled to the fence. Both Donaldson and courtesy runner Bria Beals scored to make it 3-0.

Ryley Engel then blooped a double in front of the rightfielder, driving in another run, and Alyssa Martin capped the six-run frame by blasting the first pitch she saw well over the 200-foot sign in left field for a two-run homer.

“Our mantra all season has been to get the early lead,” Trigg said. “We certainly got off to a good start today. Raegan, as always, set the tone for us. Sidney and Mya hit the ball hard and then Alyssa really connected. You knew that was gone as soon as she hit it. We got the lead and then we held them.”

Saige Althoff protected that lead by turning in a four-hit performance on the mound. She walked two and struck out eight.

“Saige pitched great,” Trigg said. “Once she gets focused, she’s real tough to hit. She moved the ball around and hit her spots.”

Salem’s only run was a lead-off homer by Lilly Blagoue in the fourth inning.

But by that time, the Lady Hearts owned a 7-0 lead. They added a tally in the third on three singles. Martin and Madi Kirk got it started and Boone dropped a base hit into center for the RBI.

The long ball accounted for Effingham’s final two tallies. Engel hit one out in the fifth and Armstrong went deep in the sixth.

The Lady Hearts finished with 13 hits. Martin led the way, going 3-for-4, while Boone, Engel and Kirk each had a pair of hits.

“We work on our hitting every day,” Trigg noted. “If you want to be in this lineup, you have to hit.”

The win also avenged an early-season loss to Salem. The Wildcats, behind the two-hit pitching of Breanna Thurman, beat EHS 7-0 in its second game of the year on March 20.

“That first game was scoreless after four innings,” Trigg recalled. “Then our defense fell apart.

“We were expecting to face Thurman again today,” the EHS coach added. “She shut us out on just two hits. But Blagoue is a big-time player, too. Our girls were ready.”

The Lady Hearts, who improved to 23-10, will now advance to the Waterloo Sectional. They will face Freeburg at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.