In the bottom of the first, Cameron Rios slapped a single to leftfield on the first pitch she saw and Addyson Rios walked. The sisters then pulled off a double steal, and when the throw to third got away, Cameron Rios scampered home with the game’s first run and Addyson ended up on third. Lucy Fearday then delivered a two-out RBI single that put St. Anthony on top, 2-0.
The Lady Bulldogs then tacked on four more tallies in the second.
With one out, Abbie Hatton connected on a 1-0 pitch and lifted a long, high fly ball over the 200-foot fence in rightfield for a home run. Stacie Vonderheide then singled, and after two passed balls, reached third base. Cameron Rios walked and stole second.
With two outs, Addie Wernsing smacked a line drive into the left-centerfield gap for a two-run double. Hailey Niebrugge then capped the four-run inning with a base hit up the middle to drive in Wernsing and increase the SAHS lead to 6-0.
“We got off to a terrific start, but I thought we got complacent in the middle innings,” Taylor said. “We got six runs and I think the girls thought that would be enough. We need to constantly stay in the game and continue to score as many runs as we can. I want to score runs in every inning.”
The Lady Cougars had baserunners in every inning but the first, but only had two runners reach third base. They scored their lone run in the fifth. Amelia Montes got a one-out single and scored on a double by Jaylyn Michel.
St. Anthony got its final tally in the sixth. Cameron Rios led off with an infield single. She stole second and went to third when the catcher’s throw got away. With one out, Wernsing collected her second hit and second RBI.
Fearday pitched all seven innings for the Lady Bulldogs to get the win. She allowed eight hits, walked just one and struck out seven, while throwing 106 pitches.
The Lady Cougars, who dipped to 19-8 on the season, got a pair of hits from Michel, Ella Watwood and Kinlee Thompson. Taegan Webster was the losing pitcher.
St. Anthony got two hits from Cameron Rios, Wernsing and Anna Faber.
The Lady Bulldogs are now 16-3 and winners of 12 straight games.
