Grace bounced from league tournament
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Grace’s softball team saw its season end on Wednesday after the opening day of the Crossroads League Tournament.
The Lady Lancers (16-35) lost in the first game to No. 2 Marian 7-3 before falling 6-4 against Spring Arbor in the afternoon.
Grace was unable to upset the regular season champion Knights during the opener, despite scoring first in the contest.
In the third inning, Olivia Scarbrough led off the frame by getting hit by a pitch. She reached third base with two outs when Abby Mozingo stepped up.
Mozingo’s well-placed hit caused havoc with the Knights’ defense, allowing both Scarbrough and Mozingo to come home on the play for a 2-0 lead.
The Knights (45-3) countered with a grand slam in the bottom of the third and never trailed again. Marian tacked on three more runs over the next two innings, and Grace could only add on a single run for the rest of the contest.
Hannah Herbster batted 2-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, and Scarbrough was 1-for-2 with two runs.
In the second game, Grace’s late rally was not enough to down Spring Arbor. Both teams had 11 hits, but the Cougars (24-26) benefitted from four fielding errors by Grace.
SAU jumped out to an early lead with a pair of runs in both the second and fourth innings. Grace added its first run in the bottom of the fourth when LeAnna Jimenez’s single brought in Chandler Elliott.
But the Cougars added another unearned run in the fifth and scored again in the top of the seventh, which put Grace in a 6-1 hole.
Britney Young and Sam Heim reached base to start a rally in the bottom of the seventh, and Mozingo brought in one run with a single. Herbster then singled to score Heim, but Mozingo was thrown out at home.
With two outs Chandler Elliott drove in Herbster, but Elliott was thrown out to end the ballgame.
Dori Knight threw a complete game from the mound, giving up two earned runs on 11 hits.
Herbster hit 2-for-4 with 1 double, 1 run and 1 RBI, and Elliott was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Mozingo and Heim each had two hits apiece, and Kyleigh Garner doubled.
Wednesday officially ends the sterling careers of graduating players Elliott, Herbster, Ashley Kleinbub, Garner and Mozingo.