O'FALLON – Edwardsville got off to a fast start against Granite City. They closed pretty quickly against the Warriors too.
“In between, we just didn't execute very well,” said Tiger coach Lori Blade Wednesday afternoon of EHS' 10-0, six-inning win over Granite City in an IHSA Class 4A O'Fallon Regional semifinal softball game that put the Tigers into Friday afternoon's regional final against the winner of today's O'Fallon-Belleville West semifinal.
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The Panther-Maroon game begins at 4:30 p.m. today, with the final set for 4 p.m Friday; the winner of that game moves into next week's Normal West Sectional. The Tigers advanced into Friday's game with a record of 28-4, while the Warriors were eliminated at 9-22.
“She (Warrior pitcher Morgan Tanksley) throws the ball really well, she really does,” Blade said. “We had a little bit of a lapse in there, but overall, we had a good approach; we didn't execute in some situational hitting stuff, but for the most part, I'm really pleased with how they were today.
“Situationally on the bases, we did good; Emma (Lewis) started with a good bunt and that kind of set the tone for the rest of that inning and everybody jumped all over it right after that. We did take extra bases; we were very aggressive on the bases as usual and it worked out.”
Edwardsville was getting contributions up and down the lineup all day. “Some of them hit the ball really hard; if the wind hadn't been blowing in, who knows?,” Blade said. “We had good at-bats and we hit it solid – sometimes it was right at them, but a good approach today.”
“We knew they were going to be aggressive and we knew we had to play our best today,” said Warrior coach Emily Ashby. “They played well – good luck to them, I hope they do well. They're a good team; we didn't have our best today.
“I'm so proud of my girls; there's nothing to hang our heads on. We'll come back next year ready to go. That's how the game goes sometimes, that's softball. We couldn't put enough hits together at the right time, and we've had trouble with that all year – we couldn't get the job done today.”
Edwardsville opened with a four-run first that started when Jordyn Henricks singled leading off the inning and went home on a Lewis sacrifice when the throw to get Lewis went into the outfield, allowing Henricks to score; an Anna Burke grounder to second allowed Lewis to score before Sarah Hangsleben and Lauren Taplin singles brought home Hangsleben, with Taplin eventually coming around to score herself. An additional run came in the second when Brooke Webber opened with a double, going to third on a passed ball. A dropped third strike to Henricks allowed Webber to score, with Henricks being tagged out at second on the play.
Hangsleben kept the Warriors at bay when they showed signs of putting together a threat, getting strikeouts and putouts from her defense when they were needed most. In the sixth, the game came to an end thinks to a two-RBI single from Lewis and back-to=back RBI doubles from Hangsleben and Maria Smith.
Burke went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Tigers, while Hangsleben was 2-for-4 with a double, RBI and two runs scored, Henricks 2-for-3 with a run scored, Lewis 1-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored, Smith 1-for-3 with a double and RBI, Taplin 1-for-3 with a RBI and run scored and Kylee Meyers and Kay Swanson a run scored each. For the Warriors, Tanksley, Sydney McReynolds and Haley Crider were all 1-for-3 with Tanksley getting a double and Savanah Gibson was 1-for-1 with a double.
Henricks got the win for EHS, going the distance and dismissing nine by strikeout; Tanksley took the loss while striking out two.
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