SOFTBALL POWERS WAY TO 10-1 WIN OVER MARRIOTT

Hooward brought its bats on the road Tuesday against Marriotts Ridge. In a battle between two of Howard County’s best, the Lions (7-1 county, 7-3 overall) came away with the 10-1 win over the Mustangs (6-2,8-2) and earned the one-game lead in the county standings. “We knew they would be a big team and top opponent in the county, so we knew we needed to focus and bring everything we had and really just nail in our fundamentals and just play our softball,” said Howard catcher Paige Eakes. “We’re facing a lot of good teams this week, so it was a huge start and a great intro to our week.” The Lions found early success against Marriotts Ridge ace Mikayla Barnard. After two scoreless innings they broke the game open in the top of the third. Howard started off the inning with three-straight hits with Emma Braswell giving the Lions a one-run lead after an RBI single scored Shanya Gordon from third. Ally Wieman tacked on three more after a bases clearing double. She was inches away from sending the ball over the center field fence, but the ball dropped just before the wall, allowing Katie Unkle, Braswell and Eakes to score. The big third inning propelled the nine-run win, as the Lions added two more in the fifth and three in the sixth to create the large cushion. “We did, we played a good game. We had one inning that we let get away from us and that gave them I think five runs that inning, and we were unable to get the lead back from there,” said Marriotts Ridge coach Karyn Peksa. “Howard is a good hitting team and good competition every time we play. They took that five runs and got a couple more in the next couple innings.” Eakes got it started in the top of the fifth with a one-out single, and Becky Merson ultimately hit her across two batters later. Sophie Morton then stepped up to the plate and knocked an RBI single to score Julia Colton, pushing the advantage to seven. “Coach Rice did a really good job of preparing us and getting us used to that speed,” Eakes said of Barnard. “She is faster than most of the girls we’ve faced so far, so just making sure we see it in especially against her and then just watching the off-speed stuff from the second pitcher, Romy [Lindahl]. We just knew we had to watch it in all the way and take the bat to the ball.” Howard got its first four batters on in the top of the sixth. Braswell hit a shot down the left field line, scoring Gordon and Unkle. Eakes then drove in Braswell in the following at-bat on an RBI double. The Mustangs scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth. They started the inning strong, getting their first four runners on with just one out. Barnard picked up the RBI on a chopper hit through the infield, which scored Madi Costigan, but Marriotts Ridge couldn’t pile on more. Ultimately, the Mustangs finished with seven hits and four walks in the game, with Costigan leading the way at the plate, going 4-for-4 with the only run scored. “Howard is a good team and we had one bad inning in the beginning where we made a couple mental errors, and did a couple things where we shouldn’t have done,” Peksa said. “Howard is a good hitting team. We gave them that lead and they just kept chipping away. We didn’t hit the ball like we normally do today, and we didn’t get as many base runners on.” Howard was successful throughout their lineup, totaling 12 hits in the win. Meakes led the way, however, going 3-for-3 with a double, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Gordon (3-for-5, 2 Runs) and Braswell (2-for-4, 2 Runs, 3 RBI) followed offensively, while Wieman earned the win in the circle. The senior let up seven hits and struck out six in the complete game win. “They are a top team. I thought Ally kept them off their toes,” Rice said. “I think we played excellent defense and we put the ball in play off of Mikayla, and Mikayla is probably the one of the best pitchers, besides Ally, in the league. I’m not taking credit away. We came up and we knew what she was going to throw and we sat on it. Give credit to the team, because they hit top to bottom. Not one girl had struggles, so I am impressed with that.” The Lions have a big week ahead. They play Glenelg Wednesday, which also has just one county loss — which came against the Mustangs— then they are back home Friday against Hammond, which sits with just two county losses thus far. “We are in the meat of the schedule right now and we play three more tough teams this week and it is one game at a day,” Rice said. We are not looking at Friday, we’re not looking at Saturday, we are looking at tomorrow. We win tomorrow, we’ll breathe on Thursday and then we’ll go into Friday and see what we have there. But yeah, it is one game at a time. They are getting their feet underneath themselves. Young squad, still making some mental mistakes, but overall I think they are doing well.” The defeat snapped a four-game winning streak for the Mustangs, whose only losses this year have come against Howard, Hammond and Northeast,

SOFTBALL POWERS WAY TO 10-1 WIN OVER MARRIOTT

Photo Credit: Howard Athletics

Contact Us