Spartans beat Bulldogs in four innings at home
After losing Tuesday night to the Earlham Cardinals at home 4-2, the Exira-EHK softball team put themselves back in the win column with a 16-4 victory over the Boyer Valley Bulldogs.
It only took four innings with the Spartans offense scoring five runs in the bottom of the 1st inning, six in the bottom of the 2nd and four in the bottom of the 4th.
“It was nice,” said Spartans Head Coach Andrea Schwery. “I was intrigued to see how with a young team and the inexperienced infield they are capable of bouncing back after a tough loss last night.”
Eighth grader Riley Miller started the night in the circle for the Spartans pitching four innings. Miller ran into some trouble in the top of the 2nd inning allowing three Bulldogs to score, but settled in after that not allowing a run in the final two innings.
“She did a good job of fighting back,” Schwery said. “It’s hard when some of the hits were unlucky. There was a swinging bunt and some errors in the field, so it’s kind of tough when the defense isn’t helping you out, but she kept her head in the game and she stuck with it. As an eighth grader, that’s pretty good because sometimes it can go the other way.”
After Miller gave up three runs in the top of the second, the Spartans offense got going when they scored six runs, which included contributions up and down the lineup.
“I think they are better at pitch selection,” Schwery added. “We have more solid contact. We don’t have a ton of popups. It’s a lot of line drives and even when we’re hitting the ball, people are getting out. It’s hard balls hit right at people and that puts a lot of pressure on the defense and we don’t strikeout a ton.”
With this win, the Spartans are now 9-1. They have Thursday off, but return to action Friday on the road against the 6-5 CAM Cougars, who have won their last two games outscoring their opponent, West Harrison in a doubleheader 26-2.
The Cougars are led by Karys Hunt with six hits and Courtney Follmann with four runs batted in. In pitching, Emma Follmann has three wins with 29 strikeouts and a 1.85 earned run average.
“We’ve got to expect everyone’s best game especially against CAM,” Schwery said. “That’s always a rivalry and they always play us really well no matter what their record is for the season. Cleaning up our defense and making sure we’re playing our game at the plate and being aggressive.”