The Kewanee softball team evened their record to 3-3 after recording back-to-back wins over Stark County and Rock Falls.
The Boiler Girls won an 8-7 thriller over the Lady Rebels on Saturday and on Tuesday they overpowered Rock Falls, at the plate and in the circle, to record a 9-3 road win.
Kewanee 9, Rock Falls 3
Kewanee pitcher Kalleigh Gale had herself a night on the mound. The sophomore ace fanned 14 Rock Falls batters to lead the Boiler Girls to a 9-3 win over the Rockets.
In addition to the strong pitching by Gale, Kewanee’s bats were connecting early, taking a 3-0 lead against Rock Falls. Kieryn Abernathy hit a single to center field to drive in Remy Hicks.
Cheyanne Rodgers then scored on a passed ball and Macee Pickering hit a double to bring in Abernathy.
Kewanee held a 5-1 lead after five innings of play. The Boiler Girls scored three more runs at the top of the sixth to expand the lead to 8-2. Gale hit a triple to right field, scoring Addison Gerard and Lexi Dillender. Gale then scored off of a single by Rodgers.
In Kewanee’s final at bat, Gerard hit a fly ball to center field, bringing around Peyton Galli in the 9-3 win.
Gale went the distance for the Boiler Girls en route to picking up her second win of the season. In addition to striking out 14 batters, Gale scattered five hits and gave up three runs (two earned).
At the plate, Gale was 2-3 (one triple), had three RBI and one run. Pickering was 2-3 (one double) and one RBI.
Abernathy was 2-4, with two runs and one RBI. Gerard was 2-4, with two RBI and one run. Rodgers was 1-3, with one run and one RBI. Rylie Pfister also scored in the win.
Kewanee 8, Stark County 7
The score was tied at seven when freshman slugger Remy Hicks hit a sacrifice fly to center field to send sophomore Kalleigh Gale home for the walk-off 8-7 win.
Kewanee put two runs on the board in the first inning, but Stark County countered with three runs in the second to go on top, 3-2. A single by senior Hope Peed in the bottom of the third put the Boiler Girls back in the lead at 4-3.
In the see saw affair, Kenna Sparks hit a home run to left field for the Lady Rebels which knotted the score at four at the top of the fourth inning.
Kewanee came away empty in the bottom of the fourth and Stark County broke the tie and plated two more runs in the top of the fifth inning to put some daylight between the two teams at 6-4.
Not deterred, the Boiler Girls came up with three big runs in the bottom of the fifth. Freshman Kieryn Abernathy and seniors Alison Bartell and Lexi Dillender all scored, giving Kewanee back the lead at 7-6.
The lead, however, was short-lived. A single by Kenna Newton of Stark County sent home teammate Ostrowski to tie the game at seven at the top of the seventh inning. Hicks then hit the sacrifice fly to give Kewanee the 8-7 win.
Lyric Duytschaver picked up her first win for Kewanee after pitching four innings. She fanned five (no walks), while giving up five hits and four runs.
Cheyanne Rodgers pitched three innings and struck out five batters and had three walks. She gave up two hits and three runs.
Aubri Stahl took the loss for Stark County. She struck out three and surrendered six walks, five hits and eight runs spread over six innings.
In all, Kewanee had eight hits and eight runs. Abernathy was 2-3 at the plate with one double and one run. Peed was 2-4 and had three RBI. Senior Ady Gerard was 2-4, recording a double and two RBI.
Rodgers went 1-3 and scored two runs, while Bartell scored twice for the Boiler Girls. Freshman Macee Pickering, Dillender and Gale each scored a run in the win.
