Local teams spring into action on the baseball and softball fields

[March 27, 2017]  Spring has sprung and local high school teams have hit the diamonds. Each week Lincoln Daily News will offer a recap of baseball and softball games, with highlights and coach’s comments included when available.

This week we start with the ladies first. The LCHS softball team is off to a 3-1 start in the 2017 season.

The team starts seven freshmen and sophomores at the varsity level under the direction of Head Coach Darrin Worth.

The Railsplitters kicked off the start of Spring with a season opening 5-2 win over Warrensburg-Latham last Monday.

The Railsplitters scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning and held the Lady Cardinals to just two runs behind the pitching of Hope Moos.

Moos pitched seven strong innings and struck out three batters to earn the win. Lauren Block had two RBI’s for the Railsplitters.

On Tuesday Lincoln defeated Springfield High 9-6. The Railsplitters led 6-0 after three innings of play and added three more runs in the sixth inning.

Springfield scored in each of the three final innings but Lincoln held on for the win.

Moos had two hits against Springfield and Sydney Worth had two RBI’s. Kerstin Osborne pitched a complete game and struck out eight batters to earn the win.

On Wednesday afternoon Lincoln hosted Springfield High and the Railsplitters had no trouble sweeping the series with the Lady Senators.

A six-run third inning was the highlight of the afternoon as Lincoln walked away with a 7-1 win.

Lincoln got two hits again from Moos and Block added two RBI’s. Moos was dominate on the mound again, pitching seven innings and striking out five batters.

Friday afternoon Lincoln faced Williamsville and the two teams were scoreless through five innings.

Williamsville scored one run in the top of the sixth inning and added six more runs in the seventh inning.

The Railsplitters just could not get a run across despite getting hits from Block and Osborne.

The Lady Bullets had nine hits. Payton Long pitched for Williamsville and struck out 17 batters.

Moos picked up the loss for Lincoln, throwing six innings and giving up eight hits and seven runs. Moos also struck out four batters and walked two.

Upcoming softball games this week for Lincoln:

Tuesday home versus Lanphier at Schweitzer Field 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday at Lanphier 4:30 p.m.
Saturday at Taylorville 10 a.m.

Mount Pulaski High School girls softball

Mount Pulaski High School also has a girls softball team again this season, after a ten-year hiatus from the sport.

The Lady Hilltoppers dropped the opening game of the season to Delavan last week.

Mount Pulaski will host its first home game versus Illini Central at Frazier Park Tuesday night at 4:30 p.m.

Boys baseball

Moving on to boys baseball, the Mount Pulaski Hilltoppers are still seeking their first win of the 2017 season.

The boys started off the season with two losses in the PBR High School Jamboree in Jacksonville and then last week dropped three games.

The week began with a 9-3 loss to the Central A&M Raiders.

Mount Pulaski was trailing 9-0 going into the bottom of the seventh inning. Three runs scored in the bottom of the inning kept the Hilltoppers from being shutout. Joey Davis, Tanner Farris and Todd Kelly each had singles in the loss. Logan DeRight and Kelly each had an RBI. Kelly got the loss on the mound.

On Thursday, Mount Pulaski hosted the Pawnee Indians.

The two teams were tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning and Mount Pulaski managed to go ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The Indians tied the game in the top of the seventh and after Mount Pulaski failed to get any runs across in their bottom half, the game headed to extra innings. Pawnee scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning and went on to take the 5-3 win from Mount Pulaski.

DeRight (0-2), who was a perfect 4-4 at the plate, took the loss for Mount Pulaski. The Hilltoppers also got hits from Ben Fricke, Eli Olson and Brandon Kretzinger. Kelly, Fricke and DeRight had the RBI’s for Mount Pulaski.

On Friday night, Mount Pulaski lost a 3-2 ballgame to the Blue Ridge Knights.

The Knights led 2-0 after one inning of play and would go on to lead 3-0 after five innings. Mount Pulaski just came up short, scoring a run apiece in each of the last two innings.

Singles by John Henry Trauner, Kretzinger and Farris and a double by Kelly were the offense for the Hilltoppers. Kelly (0-2) took the loss on the mound, going five innings and striking out five batters. Kelly is a freshman on Coach Joel Washko’s young pitching staff.

Despite the 0-5 start, Coach Washko sees improvement in his young team. Of the week’s efforts, he said, “I think we made some good strides in the games. It was especially good to have a chance at the end of the game versus Pawnee.

"Overall, we are way ahead of where we were last year. We have a long way to go though. We need to clean up some of our defensive mistakes and also continue to work on limiting strikeouts at the plate.”

Washko continued, “Our effort has been great so far though. We cannot hang our heads about being 0-5 with 7-8 freshmen and sophomores starting at all times. We just need to keep working to get better each day. If we do that then we will be happy with where we are at, at the end of the year."

Mount Pulaski will host Illini Central Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

Hartsburg baseball

Over in Hartsburg the Hartem Stags baseball team opened the season with a 19-2 loss to the Lewistown Indians.

The Stags will face Athens on the road Thursday at 4:30 p.m. and will host Roanoke-Benson Saturday morning at 10 a.m.

[Teena Lowery]