Grace closes out season vs Goshen
WINONA LAKE, Ind. – Grace’s softball team closed out the season with a loss and a tie against Goshen on Saturday at Coach Phil Dick Field.
The Lady Lancers (10-37-1, 6-29-1 Crossroads League) lost 1-0 in the first game and tied the second game 7-7 as the game was called due to rain after eight innings.
The first contest was a pitchers’ duel, as each pitcher threw a complete game two-hitter.
The Maple Leafs (18-32-1, 11-23-1 CL) scored the lone run in the first inning. The leadoff batter reached on a walk and was later brought home by a double to deep left field.
The Lady Lancers threatened early with back-to-back singles from Sam Heim and Erin Lawhon. But the two runners were left stranded as the Maple Leafs retired the next three batters in order.
Both pitchers settled in after the first inning. Lawhon allowed just one hit and a walk over the next six innings. Goshen stifled Grace’s offense, refusing to let Grace reach base after the first inning.
The Lady Lancers played a clean game defensively, committing no errors. Grace’s defensive effort was highlighted by a smooth double play turned by Olivia Scarbrough and Bethany Gardner.
Lawhon threw a complete game with four strikeouts, surrendering just two hits and one run.
The second game started early in an effort to dodge the rain. The Lady Lancers battled through hail and steady rain, tying the game before the weather got the last word.
Despite the conditions, the Lady Lancer hitters found their rhythm in game two to the tune of 15 hits.
Grace scored first, pushing across a run in the bottom of the second inning. Scarbrough ripped a double to deep center field. Hannah Harless then launched a double off the left field wall to plate Scarbrough and take a 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Maple Leafs strung together three straight hits, culminating in an RBI double to take the lead 2-1.
Grace responded with four hits to plate three runs. Lawhon singled, and Britney Young doubled to set the table. Taking advantage of a passed ball, Lawhon raced home to tie the game at two.
Jessica Kaurich walked, and Morgan Tapscott singled to load the bases for the Lady Lancers. Scarbrough then roped an RBI single to left, and Harless followed with a sacrifice fly to seize a two-run lead.
Goshen reclaimed the lead over the next two innings. But the Lady Lancers’ bats came back to life in the bottom of the sixth.
Heim and Young each singled to lead off the inning. Kaurich roped a double to bring Heim home, and Scarbrough cleared the bases with a clutch two-out triple to tie the game at 7-7.
After a scoreless seventh inning on both sides, the game went to extra innings. Neither team could muster up a run in the eighth, and the game was called due to rain before the ninth inning.
Eight different Lady Lancers tallied a hit in game two. Scarbrough hit 3 for 4 with three RBIs and a run scored. Heim went 3 for 5 with two stolen bases and a run scored. Harless was 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Young and Kaurich had two hits apiece.
Hannah Middlebrooks tossed the first six innings, and Dori Knight pitched the final two.
With the game ending in a tie, the Lancers snap a seven-game losing streak. This marks the final game in the careers of graduating seniors Michaela Lee, Emily Bobb, and Heim.