Taylor Armstrong blasted two home runs, including a grand slam, leading the Effingham Lady Hearts to a 13-2, five-inning victory Friday afternoon at Vandalia.

Armstrong’s first homer was the key hit of the game. It came in the third inning with Effingham trailing 2-1. Jaidi Davis had a double, Emma Hardiek was hit by a pitch and Jacy Boatman walked to load the bases. Armstrong then drove a pitch over the centerfield fence for a grand slam and put the Lady Hearts on top to stay.

Effingham scored three runs in the fourth and then added five more in the fifth.

Armstrong led off that fifth with her second long ball of the game, a solo shot that cleared the leftfield fence. With one out, Tori Budde and Daelyn Dunston both walked, both stole a base and both scored when Grace Bushur came through with a two-run single.

Sawyer Althoff then completed the scoring by belting a two-run homer over the centerfield fence.

Armstrong and Bushur both had two hits to lead the team’s nine-hit attack. Armstrong finished with five RBI in the game, while Bushue drove in three and Althoff added two more.

Davis pitched the first four innings and got the win. She allowed just one hit and two runs, while walking one and striking out seven.

The Lady Hearts, now 3-1, will be back in action today (Saturday). They will open Apollo Conference play at Lincoln. EHS will then return home to face Neoga on Monday.

The Effingham Lady Hearts had a lot of offense in the opener Saturday and then relied on a strong pitching performance in the second game to notch their first two softball wins of the season.

In the opener, Effingham banged out 10 hits and scored in every inning, en route to a 12-8 win over Salem.

In the second game, Taylor Armstrong tossed a four-hit, complete game, helping the Lady Hearts post a 2-0 victory over Olney.

In the first game, EHS led 7-0 and 11-2 before settling for the four-run decision. Emma Hardiek had three hits and Grace Bushur added two more.

The Lady Hearts went immediately to work in the bottom of the first. Bushur led off with a triple and scored on a fly ball by Sawyer Althoff. But before the inning was over, Emma Hardiek had a base hit, plus there were two walks and two errors that led to a pair of runs and an early 3-0 lead.

Effingham scored a single tally in the second on an RBI double by Hardiek; added three runs in the third on a run-scoring single by Tori Budde, an RBI double by Riley Cunningham and a ground out by Bushur; took advantage of two errors in both the fourth and sixth to add single runs; and had a three-run fifth, capped by a two-run double off the bat of Armstrong.

Riley Cunningham went the first six innings to get the win. She allowed five hits and seven runs, while walking one and striking out seven. Armstrong relieved in the seventh and recorded the final three outs.

And Armstrong just continued recording outs in the game against Olney. She allowed only four hits, while making 95 pitches in the shutout. She walked three and struck out five.

The Lady Hearts scored both of their runs in the fourth. Jacy Boatman and Hardiek led off with base hits. An error allowed the first run to score and a ground out by Budde drove home the second run. Boatman and Bushur both had two hits in the team’s six-hit attack.

Effingham, now 2-1 on the season, will play Wednesday at Shelbyville.

The Newton Lady Eagles rallied for five runs in the seventh inning Wednesday afternoon to post a 10-8 victory and ruin the season-opener for the Effingham Lady Hearts.

Effingham led 4-0 and 8-5 before Newton combined five hits and a hit batter to score five times in the seventh.

The Lady Hearts broke on top early. Grace Bushur led off in the first by reaching on a three-base error, the first of seven committed by the Lady Eagles. A base hit by Sawyer Althoff drove in Bushur.

EHS scored three more times in the second. Taylor Armstrong was hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI double by Camryn Duncan. An error allowed the second run to score and Sawyer made it 4-0 with a run-scoring ground out.

Newton then scored four runs in the third and another in the fourth to go ahead 5-4, but Effingham responded by pushing across three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Tori Budde singled, stole second and third and scored on an error. Another error allowed the second run to cross the plate and Emma Hardiek delivered an RBI single.

A sacrifice fly by Riley Cunningham boosted the Effingham lead to 8-5 in the fifth.

Armstrong pitched all seven innings and took the loss. She gave up nine hits and 10 runs, while walking three and striking out three.

The Lady Hearts will return to action Saturday with a doubleheader at Olney. The first game will start at 11 a.m.