ORIGINALLY WRITTEN TOM STOPPEL
The Marion softball team dropped a pair of home games games to Hoisington on Friday, 6-4 and 5-3.
In the opener, pitcher Leann Thomas (1-2) allowed nine hits and six earned runs while striking out three and walking four.
After Hoisington took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second, the Warriors answered with a single run in the bottom of the inning when Kari Tajchman and Allie Maddox singled with two outs and Tajchman eventually scored.
Hoisington countered with two runs in the third to go ahead 4-1 and a single tally in the fifth to lead 5-1.
The Warriors scored in the home half of the fifth as Sarah Williams singled with one out and scored on Kara Holt’s double to make the score 5-2.
After Hoisington increased its lead to 6-2 in the sixth, the Warriors rallied to score two runs in the sixth as Tajchman, Maddox and Megan Weber singled consecutively with Tajchman and Maddox crossing home plate.
But that’s as close as the Warriors would come.
“Hoisington is comparable to our team,” coach Charlotte Waner said. “We just made some mental mistakes and obviously our bats didn’t get in a row and that makes it hard to win games.”
The Warriors stranded six runners while rapping out eight hits. Tajchman led the Warriors with two hits in three at-bats.
In the second game, Holt (2-1) allowed only seven hits and two earned runs in seven innings while walking three.
“We got decent pitching in both games, but we just didn’t field the ball as well as we needed to,” Waner said. “Rarely do you win games when you commit more errors than your opponent. We just need to get stronger mentally.”
The Warriors jumped on top 1-0 in the bottom of the first when Megan Hudson singled and eventually crossed home plate on a passed ball.
Neither team scored over the next four innings. Hoisington finally broke through in the sixth with two runs on two hits to take a 2-1 lead.
The Cardinals stretched that lead to 5-1 in the seventh, scoring three runs on just one hit and two Warrior errors.
The Warriors mounted one last surge in their last at-bat. Weber and Williams walked and Hudson singled, but Holt grounded out to second base to end the game at 5-3.
The Warriors recorded just four hits in the loss. Maddox had two singles in three at-bats.
“I truly do think the difference in these games was just mental,” Waner said. “Our bats just weren’t going but that’s a part of the game. I’m not going to take anything away from Hoisington.
“The physical part of our game is there, we just have to get our minds into it and decide we’re good enough to win games.”
With the losses, the Warriors fall to 3-3 for the season.
Nickerson-The Warrior softball team split a doubleheader with Nickerson last Tuesday, losing the opener 8-1 but taking the second game 12-8.
In the first game, Leann Thomas (1-1) allowed 12 hits and six earned runs while facing 33 batters and throwing 112 pitches.
Nickerson jumped to an 8-0 lead after four innings before the Warriors finally got on the board.
Thomas led off with a double and scored on an error on a ball off the bat of Amber Richmond to make the score 8-1.
But the Warriors could not score after that and lost their first game of the season. They managed nine hits but also committed seven fielding errors.
In the second game, Kara Holt pitched six strong innings, faced 30 batters and threw 97 pitches to nail down her second win of the season.
The Warriors grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second when Richmond walked and scored on a Whitney Wear sacrifice.
The lead expanded to 4-0 in the third inning by virtue of two Warrior hits and two Panther fielding errors.
Megan Hudson and Sarah Williams both doubled in the inning.
After Nickerson made it 4-3 in the third, the Warriors added two runs in the fifth on five hits, including doubles by Williams and Thomas.
Nickerson cut the margin to 6-5 in the home half of the inning but the Warriors answered with four runs in the sixth to lead, 10-5. Thomas’ one-out, two-run double was the big blow.
The Panthers added three runs in the sixth to whittle the lead to 10-8, but the Warriors scored two insurance runs in the seventh on a triple by Williams and a run-scoring single from Hudson.
The Warriors pounded out 16 hits while Holt (2-0) and Thomas combined to allow just seven hits and three earned runs.
With the split, the Warriors improved to 3-1 overall for the young season.
Coming- Marion was scheduled to host Hillsboro on Tuesday before traveling to Halstead on Friday for a pair of games beginning at 4:30 p.m.
