LG fails to contain Gilman offense, wins twice against Colby-Abby

To their dismay, the Loyal-Greenwood (LG) softball players came up empty-handed in their recent home game versus Gilman.

It was a beautiful day for a softball game as the two teams gathered in Loyal’s West Side Park last Thursday. The parking lot was filled with the cars of fans who had gathered to watch the game, and the fans were kept engaged over the first few innings as the teams stayed neck-and-neck. Scores for the first four innings were: 1-1, 3-3, 7-3 with LG leading, and 9-8 with Gilman leading, leaving it anybody’s game. Gilman picked up one more run in the fifth, but in the sixth the Pirates broke the game open with 11 runs scored. LG managed one more run in the sixth, but it was not nearly enough. Gilman won 21-9.

The top hitters for LG were Courtney Rakovec, who went 3-4 and scored one run; and Mya Rueth, who went 2-4 and also scored a run. Other scorers for LG were Tiffany Mitte, Addison Davidson and Aspen Hagen with two runs each and Anna Lindner with one. Delaney Kirchner walked to first three times and Mitte did once.

Gilman senior Tatum Weir pitched the win for the Pirates. She struck out five batters. She allowed four walks, 10 hits and eight runs.

The LG Wolves had four errors while the Pirates had three.

May 9 Colby-Abbotsford game In contrast to the Gilman game, the Wolves demonstrated their abilities with two decisive victories over Colby-Abbotsford (CA) May 9.

LG won the first of the two games at Colby 14-3. Top hitters for LG included Kirchner, Maddi Raese, Rueth and Rakovec. Kirchner went 2-2 with three runs and two walks. Raese went 3-3. She doubled twice and scored three runs. Rueth was 3-4, scoring three runs and hitting a double. Rakovec went 2-3 and got one walk.

Other team members scoring runs for the Wolves were Mitte with two, Hagen with one and Davidson with two.

Davidson pitched five innings for the win for LG. She allowed five hits and three runs, struck out two and walked one.

In the second game, the CA girls got a little more life in them, more than doubling their scoring output, but LG also upped the ante, leading to the 18-8 win. This time, Hagen, Mitte, Raese and Davidson scored three runs apiece; Rakovec and Kirchner had two; and Rueth and Tysen Lindner each had one.

Players with the highest batting averages were Rueth and Rakovec, who each went 2-3; with Mitte close behind at 3-5. Kirchner had three walks, Rakovec had two, and Rueth and Raese each had one.

LG committed four errors in the second game while CA had three.

At left, Loyal-Greenwood’s (LG) Delaney Kirchner makes it back on base in the nick of time to be safe. At right, Morgan Raese runs the bases for LG after hitting a double earlier that inning in the game against Gilman May 11.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTOS