By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

When the St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs came to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning, you would have never known they were the team trailing on the scoreboard.

Music to “Cotton Eye Joe” started blaring from the dugout and the girls started singing, dancing and twirling around. And their coach loved it.

“I guess that’s kind of our rally song,” said SAHS coach Makayla Taylor. “Sometimes you just have to find ways to build momentum. The girls love to dance to that song. I think it helped them relax and have some fun, which is exactly what I want to see."

It certainly seemed to help.

The Lady Bulldogs immediately put together a four-run inning, which was more than enough to carry them to a 4-1 victory over Windsor/Stew-Stras and earn them the championship of the National Trail Conference Softball Tournament Monday night at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.

Through the first four innings, the Lady Hatchets’ Karlie Bean had limited St. Anthony to just two hits – and neither one of those left the infield.

But Bean went to a 3-2 count on each of the first four SAHS hitters in the bottom of the fifth and three of them reached base. Anna Faber worked a walk to start the inning. One out later, Addison Rios beat out an infield single. Her sister, Cameron, then lined a 3-2 pitch off the third baseman’s glove. The base hit rolled into shallow leftfield, allowing Faber to score. Addison Rios raced to third and her sister scampered to second on the throw.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs are the No. 1 seed in the National Trail Conference Softball Tournament and they showed why Monday afternoon.

The Lady Bulldogs exploded for 12 runs in the first inning, added 10 more in the second and finished with a 22-0, three-inning victory over St. Elmo/Brownstown in an opening-round game at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.

The Lady Bulldogs pounded out 18 hits in their two at-bats. Abbie Wernsing and Maddie Kibler both had two hits, including home runs, and combined to drive in nine runs and Stacie Vonderheide delivered a bases-loaded triple.

SAHS sent 16 batters to the plate in that 12-run first inning. They had 10 hits, a walk and were helped by a pair of SEB errors.

Cameron Rios led off with a base hit, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Wernsing. And that was just the beginning. Before the inning was over, Maddie Kibler had a two-run triple and a two-run homer, Grace Karolewicz added a two-run triple, and Sydney Kibler, Abbi Hatton and Lucy Fearday added run-scoring singles.

Wernsing smacked a grand slam in the second and Vonderheide added her three-run triple in the 10-run second.

Wernsing pitched all three innings to get the win. She faced the minimum of nine batters and didn’t allow a baserunner. She struck out seven of the nine batters she faced.

The Lady Bulldogs notched their ninth straight win to improve to 19-3. They will advance to face Altamont in a semifinal game Wednesday. The Lady Indians defeated Neoga 7-2 in an opening-round game. Game time Wednesday is set for 4:15 p.m.

Also on Monday, Windsor/Stew-Stras blanked Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City 15-0 and South Central beat Dieterich.

By Steve Raymond

ET Sports Report

Ask any coach of any sport and they will quickly tell you how important getting off to a quick start is to virtually any team.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs certainly benefitted Friday night.

They scored five runs in the opening two innings and then road the strong pitching performance of Lucy Fearday to a 7-1 victory over Teutopolis in the 9th annual Cross Creek Classic, played at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.

St. Anthony combined five hits and two costly errors to push those five runs across in the first two innings – four of those being unearned.

“It’s always important to get off to a good start,” St. Anthony coach Makayla Walsh admitted. “We try to score in every inning. At least, that’s the goal.

“I can’t complain about anything tonight,” Walsh added. “We had 10 hits and no errors. We came ready to hit and were really relaxed. I thought the girls were locked into a zone and ready to go.”

The Lady Bulldogs wasted no time taking control. In the bottom of the first, Cameron Rios lined the first pitch she saw off the glove of T-Town shortstop Emily Konkel for a base hit and then raced all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt by Addie Wernsing. Hailey Niebrugge followed with a base hit to stake SAHS to a 1-0 lead.

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs have received the top seed in the 2022 National Trail Conference Softball Tournament.

The annual tourney will be played Monday, Wednesday and Friday, May 2-6, at Evergreen Hollow Park in Effingham.

The top four seeds also included Windsor/Stew-Stras (No. 2), South Central (No. 3) and Altamont (No. 4).

There will be four games played Monday, four more Wednesday and the finals are set for Friday.

Games will be played on both the east (ED) and west diamonds (WD).

Here is the tournament schedule:

Monday, May 2

Game 1 – 4:15 p.m. (ED) – St. Anthony (#1) vs. St. Elmo/Brownstown (#8)

Game 2 – 4:15 p.m. (WD) – WSS (#2) vs. Cowden-Herrick/Beecher City (#7)

Game 3 – 6 p.m. (ED) – Altamont (#4) vs. Neoga (#5)

Game 4 – 6 p.m. (WD) – South Central (#3) vs. Dieterich (#6)

Wednesday, May 4

Game 5 – 4:15 p.m. (ED) – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 3

Game 6 – 4:15 p.m. (WD) – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3

Game 7 – 6 p.m. (ED) – Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 4

Game 8 – 6 p.m. (WD) – Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 4

Friday, May 6

Game 9 – 4:15 p.m. (ED) – Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 7 (3rd place)

Game 10 – 4:15 p.m. (WD) – Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8 (consolation)

Game 11 – 6 p.m. (ED) – Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 7 (championship)

The St. Anthony Lady Bulldogs scored seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally for an 8-2 win at home Thursday over Altamont.

The Lady Indians scored two runs in the top of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead.

But Abbi Hatton doubled, Grace Karolewicz reached on an error and Cameron Rios laid down a bunt single to load the bases and start the Lady Bulldogs big inning. With one out, Hailey Niebrugge singled to drive in a pair and put the hosts on top. Lucy Fearday then had an RBI single and Maddie Kibler walked to load the bases again. Sydney Kibler also walked to force in a run, another came home on a wild pitch and Hatton capped the inning with a two-run single.

Sydney Kibler, who pitched all seven innings, retired Altamont in order in the seventh to seal the victory. Kibler allowed only two hits, while walking one and striking out 12.

She was locked into a pitcher’s dual with Altamont’s Grace Lemke, who had allowed just one hit and one unearned run through the first five innings.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 17-3 on the season. They will play again tonight (Friday) against Teutopolis in the annual Cross Creak Classic at Evergreen Hollow Park. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

  1. Lady Bulldogs notch 15th victory with 16-4 win over Dieterich
  2. Top of the lineup combines for 10 hits, 10 RBI; Lady Bulldogs roll
  3. Hatton's inside-the-park homer gives Lady Bulldogs 4-3 walk-off win
  4. 9-run first inning sparks Lady Bulldogs to 17-2 rout over Neoga