EDWARDSVILLE - Between some tough defense in the outfield and the power on the mound, the Edwardsville High School Tigers softball team landed a 12-0 victory against the Granite City High School Warriors Tuesday afternoon in four and a half innings.
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Jordan Garella used her command at the mound to allow not a single run to be scored by the Warriors, and the ladies backing her up in the outfield ensured that no ball was left uncaught after some seriously close calls.
"Overall, I was really pleased," Tigers Coach Lori Blade said. "We're very capable of being a good defensive team, especially in the outfield. [They've] carried us a lot of the time and the infield needs to become a little more solid."
Morgan Tanksley takes the loss for Granite City, giving up 12 runs to the Tigers.
Jordan Corby brought in the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Rachel Anderson in the bottom of the first.
After a walk, Anna Burke made it across home plate for the second point after Allison Loehr was walked and Emma Lewis hit a ground ball to left.
With runners on second and third, Taryn Brown grounded to the pitcher and allowed courtesy runner Jennifer Werner to score, making the score 3-0 for the Tigers.
Lewis was able to make it to the mound on a dropped pitch by the catcher to bring the score to 4-0 at the end of the second.
The bottom of the third was the most run-intensive half-inning in the game, as Edwardsville earned six runs courtesy of Anderson, Sarah Hangsleben, Burke, Loehr, Lewis and Kylee Meyers with no outs on the board. This dynamic influx of points brought the score to 10-0 at the end of the third.
In the bottom of the fourth, Burke advanced to first on a ground ball to left center. Loehr stepped up to the plate and knocked a two-run home run out of the field, bringing the score to 12-0 to end the fourth.
Perhaps the confidence of a 12-point game got to the girls in the top of the fifth, but Garella nearly allowed runs to score in a bases loaded, two outs situation. Fortunately for her and her team, she was able to strike the last runner out and close out the game.
Burke and Loehr both belted out two hits for the Tigers, while Loehr had three RBI and Burke two RBI. Brown had one hit and drove in three runs. Lewis, Jennifer Kocevar, Corby, Hangsleben and Anderson each had hits.
