Laney Coffin belted a home run, Hailey Niebrugge drove in a pair of runs and Lucy Fearday scattered six hits Thursday afternoon, helping the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs post a 7-0 victory over Effingham and clinch the City Series championship for the second year in a row.
The Lady Hearts still lead the overall series 14-9.
After winning the series opener 5-4 the day before, the Lady Bulldogs dominated Game 2 at Bulldog Field.
They scored the only runs they would need in the second inning. Niebrugge and Fearday both singled. A passed ball and an error then allowed both runners to score and put SAHS ahead 2-0.
The Lady Bulldogs added single tallies in the third and fifth. In the third, Cameron Rios and Addyson Rios both singled and Niebrugge drove in the run with a sacrifice bunt. Niebrugge added an RBI single in the fifth after a double by Addyson Rios.
St. Anthony broke it open in the sixth. After Anna Faber walked, Abbie Hatton lined a double that brought Faber in. Laney Coffin then blasted a two-run homer over the leftfield fence to cap the scoring.
That was more than enough support for Fearday. She didn’t walk a batter and struck out two in an efficient 61-pitch, seven-inning performance.
Jennifer Jamison had two hits for the Lady Hearts and Natalie Armstrong took the loss. She allowed 10 hits, while walking just one and striking out four.
The Lady Bulldogs have now won 14 in a row and improved to 18-3 on the season. EHS dipped to 17-10.
Game 3 of the City Series is scheduled for today (Friday) at 4 p.m. at Effingham Field.
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Cameron Rios had to take an important college-level AP test late Wednesday afternoon.
As a result, she was a little late getting to the ballfield.
But better late than never.
When she entered the game in the fourth inning, she made her presence felt immediately.
Rios singled on the first pitch she saw and later scored the go-ahead run.
Then in the fifth, she delivered a two-out RBI single to drive in what proved to be the deciding run, helping the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs post their 13th straight victory, a 5-4 decision over Effingham in the opening game of the annual City Series.
“She’s our sparkplug,” said St. Anthony Coach Makayla Taylor. “This City Series is a neat atmosphere. Our girls just want to keep plugging away at getting wins. We beat a good Effingham team today.”
By Steve Raymond
ET Sports Report
Every coach likes to see hitting up and down the lineup.
And that’s exactly what Makayla Taylor is seeing from her team right now.
In the last five games, all nine starters have had at least one hit in three of those and seven of the nine had hits in another game.
On Thursday night, eight St. Anthony batters got into the hit column. The Lady Bulldogs collected 11 total hits and that, combined with a strong pitching performance, helped the Lady Bulldogs post a 7-1 victory over South Central and capture their third straight National Trail Conference Softball Tournament championship.
“When I look in our dugout, I feel like I could pick just about any of the girls and they would get the job done at the plate,” Taylor said. “Sometimes, I don’t know where to place them in the lineup. But I sure like our lineup right now and I love the way we’re hitting the ball.”
It started with the Cross Creek Classic just one week ago. All nine starters collected hits and the Lady Bulldogs banged out 15 total hits, en route to an 11-0 victory over Teutopolis. SAHS followed that with games of 10, 14 and 20 hits and a total of 39 runs.
That offensive attack was at it again in the NTC championship, especially in the early innings.
The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs are the No. 1 seed in the Teutopolis Class 2A Regional, which will open play on Monday, May 15.
There are five teams in that regional, including the host Teutopolis Lady Shoes, who are the No. 7 seed. The other teams are Pana, Paris and Westville.
The winner of the Teutopolis Regional will advance to the Tolono (Unity) Sectional, which is scheduled for May 23 and May 27. Winners of the regionals at Maroa-Forsyth, Bloomington Central Catholic and Sullivan will also advance to Tolono.
Here is the schedule for the Teutopolis Regional:
Monday, May 15
Game 1 – 4:30 p.m. – Pana (#9) vs. Paris (#8)
Tuesday, May 16
Game 2 – 4:30 p.m. – St. Anthony (#1) vs. Winner Game 1
Wednesday, May 17
Game 3 – 4:30 p.m. – Westville (#4) vs. Teutopolis (#7)
Friday, May 19
Game 4 – Winner Game vs. Winner Game 3 (championship)
The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs are the top seed in the 2023 National Trail Conference Softball Tournament, which is being played this week at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.
The Lady Bulldogs, who are 13-3, received a first-round bye and will open play Wednesday afternoon.
Windsor/Stew-Stras is seeded No. 2, followed by South Central at No. 3, Dieterich No. 4, Altamont No. 5, Cowden Herrick/Beecher City No. 6 and St. Elmo/Brownstown No. 7.
Tournament play began Monday. WSS blasted SEB 15-0; South Central coasted to a 17-0 win over CHBC; and Altamont knocked off Dieterich 3-2.
The semifinals will be played Wednesday and the finals have been moved from Friday to Thursday due to the weather forecast.
St. Anthony will play Altamont and WSS will face South Central in Wednesday’s semifinal games. Both contests will be played at 4:15 p.m.
The two winners will then square for the NTC Tournament championship at 6 p.m. Thursday. The third place game will be played at 4:15 p.m. Thursday.
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