The Marion softball team went 2-1 last week to improve to 5-2 in Heart of America league play, 5-4 overall.
Sterling—Marion lost Game 1, 12-4, in six innings. The game was called in the bottom of the seventh inning because of rain, meaning the final score reverted back to the last completed inning.
“We have a tendency, that we need to get rid of, of starting late—our pattern has been Game 2 is our best game and we just are not coming on real strong in Game 1,” coach Jennifer Felvus said. “We must fix that right now to swing ourselves into a good place for (the) postseason. As a team, we are working in this aspect of our mental game, and I expect to see improvement.”
Game 2 will be rescheduled.
Ell-Saline—Marion swept the Cardinals Tuesday.
The Warriors won Game 1, 15-1, in five innings.
Marion scored two runs with help from the Cardinals in the first inning. With the bases loaded and one out after a hit by pitch, a walk and another hit by pitch, Paige May worked a walk to bring home the first run. A second bases-loaded walk, this time by Lindsey Sigel, scored the second run.
Marion scored one run off one hit and an error in the second inning, then scored two more runs off four hits in the top of the third. Sigel hit a double in the frame, and Shelby Felvus, an RBI single.
Leading, 5-0, Marion blew the game open by scoring eight runs in the fourth inning. Marion knocked out seven hits in the half-inning. In her second trip to the plate in the half-inning, Paige May hit a three-run triple, having hit a double earlier in the inning. Sigel drove in two runs with a double. Corrina Crabb hit an RBI single, and Taelyn Pagel worked a bases-loaded walk.
The Cardinals scored in the bottom half of the inning, then Marion scored two more runs in the top of the fifth. Shelby Felvus drove in a run with a base hit.
Sigel was 3-for-3 at-bat and had three RBIs. Kourtney Hansen was 3-for-4. Paige May had five RBIs.
Shelby Felvus (4-2) was the winning pitcher. Over five innings, she scattered three hits and one earned run. She walked four batters and struck out four.
Marion won Game 2, 16-5, in six innings.
The Warriors scored two runs off two hits in the first inning. Ell-Saline scored one run off two hits and an error in the bottom half of the inning.
Marion enjoyed a four-hit, six-run top of the second, also benefitting from three errors and a walk. Katelyn Christensen hit an RBI double. Paige May drove in a run with a single, and Shelby Felvus hit a sacrifice fly.
The Warriors added two runs in the third inning. Ell-Saline outscored Marion in the fourth inning, 2-1, and each team scored one run in the fifth inning, making the score, 12-4.
Marion plated four runs off five hits in the top of the sixth inning, which also included an error and a walk. Sigel drove in two runs with a double, and Paige May hit a two-run single.
Ell-Saline scored one run in the sixth inning, but the effort was not enough to prevent the mercy rule from taking effect.
Shelby Felvus was 3-for-4 at-bat and had two RBIs. Kourtney Hansen was also 3-for-4. Paige May had four RBIs.
Felvus (5-2) earned the pitching win. In three innings, she gave up five hits and two runs (one earned). She walked one batter and struck out two.
Coming—Marion was scheduled to play at Remington Tuesday and will have the rest of the week off before traveling to Bennington May 2 for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
