EDWARDSVILLE - Jillian Lane delivered the big blow in the home half of the third, doubling over the left fielder’s head to score what proved to be the winning runs as Edwardsville won over Belleville West in a Southwestern Conference softball game 5-1 Thursday afternoon at Plummer Field.
The game was moved to the all-turf field from the Edwardsville Sports Complex, due to wet grounds. It was the first game this season that the Tigers have played at Plummer Feld.
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All the scoring occurred in the third inning, and it was the Maroons who struck first, when a fly ball hir by Aubrey Weaver fell in for a single, and was misplayed by the left fielder, allowing Weaver to score and give West the 1-0 lead.
The Maroon lead didn’t last long, as all the scoring for the Tigers happened with two out. Madi Kolakowski and Brooke Burris hit back-to-back singles, with Kolakowski going to third. Lane then delivered her double that went to the fence In left field, scoring Kolakowski and Burris to give Edwardsville a 2-1 lead.
Nelson then helped herself with a solid single to left, scoring Lane and making it 3-1. Nelson went to second on the throw, and Shelby Gorniak came in as a courtesy runner. Gorniak took third on a wild pitch, then scored on Grace Oertle’s RBI single to center to make it 4-1. Sophie Anronini singled, and Jillian Hawkes drew a walk to load the bases, with Reese McNamara singling home Oertle to increase the lead to 5-1. Graham Cobb-Gulledge struck out to end the inning.
From there, Nelson was in control, retiring 11 West batters in a row before giving way to Cobb-Gulledge, who set the Maroons down in the seventh to give Edwardsville the win.
West is now 2-9 on the year, while the Tigers improve to 7-1, and play at Triad on Friday, then are at Belleville East next Tuesday, then host East St. Louis next Thursday and host a doubleheader against Chatham Glenwood Apr. 12, with all games starting at 4:30 p.m.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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