Young Lincoln Railers softball team battles Mattoon in Apollo Conference doubleheader

[April 19, 2018] 

The Lincoln Railers softball team really faced a tough battle on Tuesday afternoon against the Mattoon Wave. Kerstin Osborne, the only senior on the team, tossed the entire 17 innings and never wavered in her determination.

The Railers dropped game one in 10 innings by a score of 4-2 and then fell in game two 11-6. But both games were exciting for Coach Darrin Worth's young team.

In game one, Lincoln struck for a run in the bottom of the first inning and took the 1-0 lead over the Wave.

Osborne was dealing from the circle and Lincoln held the 1-0 lead going into the top of the 6th inning.

The Wave got runners on base and were threatening to score when the ball was hit towards the third base side and Osborne fielded it and fired a perfect throw to Emily Paulus at home. Paulus applied the perfect tag and umpire Jerry Pagel made the call, "Out!"

Paulus, by the way, is a very impressive defensive catcher who has had to fill the void of Lauren Block. Block is now with the Parkland Cobras softball team. Paulus is also not afraid to swing the bat either and as a freshman she is doing a phenomenal job.

Lincoln held that 1-0 lead going into the top of the 7th inning but the Wave managed to squeak across a run to tie the game 1-1. The Wave stranded a base runner in the top of the 7th inning and Lincoln escaped further trouble. With the score tied 1-1 in Lincoln's bottom half of the inning, the Railers threatened to score as Mya Kate Kirgan smashed a double. Kirgan was stranded on third base when Aria Pumfrey struck out to end the game in regulation. To extras the Railers go.

Mattoon struck quickly in the top of the 8th inning with a run and took the 2-1 lead over Lincoln.

In the bottom half of the inning the coach's daughter, sophomore shortstop Sydney Worth, came up big ~ real big. She crushed the ball for a home run over the centerfield fence. It was her first home run at Schweitzer Field in her LCHS softball career. What a memory! The game was now tied 2-2.

While the Wave, who consist of five seniors and four juniors among a few underclassmen, battled back to score two runs in the top of the 10th inning off Osborne and take the win. Kerstin Osborne pitched all 10 innings of game one and allowed four runs on eight hits. Osborne struck out six Wave batters.

The Railers have every right to hold their heads high. The game was a hard-fought, intense battle enjoyed by fans and it is just a glimpse into what the future will bring for these young athletes.

In the coach's own words, he described the excitement of the extra-inning affair of game one. "It was an exciting game," said Coach Worth. "We were down 2-1 going into the bottom of the 8th inning with two outs and Sydney Worth stepping up to the plate. On the very first pitch she hit a homerun over the fence and I knew right when she hit it, it was gone. That made the score 2-2 and then they scored two runs in the top of the 10th inning. They won 4-2 in the first game. Our girls played really good tonight. Kerstin pitched really good. She pitched 10 innings in the first game and 7 innings in the second game."

Coach Worth and the team carried the momentum into the second game and although they fell short in the scoring column in game two, it was nothing short of exciting.

"The second game was just as exciting," said Coach Worth. "We were down 5-3 going into the bottom of the 5th inning and with two outs Sydney Worth singled up the middle. Kerstin then came up and singled up the middle to get Sydney over to third. Sydney Sutherland came up and doubled down the right field line to score Sydney Worth and Kerstin. Then Emily Paulus came up and doubled to the fence to score Sydney Sutherland to take a 6-5 lead all with two outs. Mattoon scored six runs in the top of the 6th inning to take a 11-6 lead and that was the final."

The Railers softball team rallies around each other after holding the Mattoon Wave scoreless in the 9th inning.

 

Batting States Game One

Lineup	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Jacey Cooper	3	0	1	0	2	0
Sydney Worth	4	2	1	1	1	1
Kerstin Osborne	5	0	0	0	0	0
Sydney Sutherland	4	0	1	0	0	1
Emily Paulus	3	0	0	0	1	0
Mya Kate Kirgan	2	0	1	0	1	1
Bayleigh Gillum	4	0	0	0	0	2
Aria Pumfrey	3	0	0	0	1	3
Macailey Metelko	4	0	0	0	0	1
Lamb	-	-	-	-	-	-
Totals	32	2	4	1	6	9

Batting2B:Mya Kate Kirgan

HR:Sydney Worth

TB:Jacey Cooper, Mya Kate Kirgan2, Sydney Sutherland, Sydney Worth4

RBI:Sydney Worth

SAC:Mya Kate Kirgan

ROE:Sydney Sutherland

FC:Sydney Worth

CS:Emily Paulus

PIK:Sydney Sutherland

TotalsTeam QAB:20 (51.28%)
Jacey Cooper4, Bayleigh Gillum, Mya Kate Kirgan4, Macailey Metelko2, Kerstin Osborne, Emily Paulus, Aria Pumfrey3, Sydney Sutherland2, Sydney Worth2

Team LOB:7

Batting Stats Game Two

Lineup	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO
Jacey Cooper	1	1	1	0	0	0
Ella Burton	3	0	0	0	0	1
Sydney Worth	3	3	2	0	0	0
Kerstin Osborne	4	1	1	0	0	1
Sydney Sutherland	3	1	2	4	0	0
Emily Paulus	3	0	2	2	0	0
Mya Kate Kirgan	3	0	0	0	0	0
Bayleigh Gillum	3	0	0	0	0	0
Aria Pumfrey	2	0	0	0	0	1
Ryleigh Lamb	1	0	0	0	0	1
Macailey Metelko	3	0	0	0	0	2
Totals	29	6	8	6	0	6

Batting2B:Sydney Sutherland 2

3B:Emily Paulus

TB:Jacey Cooper, Kerstin Osborne, Emily Paulus4, Sydney Sutherland4, Sydney Worth2

RBI:Emily Paulus 2, Sydney Sutherland 4

SAC:Sydney Worth

TotalsTeam QAB:8 (26.67%)
Bayleigh Gillum, Mya Kate Kirgan, Ryleigh Lamb, Kerstin Osborne, Emily Paulus, Sydney Sutherland2, Sydney Worth

Team LOB:3

Game Two Pitching Stats

Pitching	IP	#P	S%	H	R	ER	SO	BB	HR
Kerstin Osborne	6	93	0.677	11	11	6	2	2	0
Totals	7	97	0.691	12	11	6	2	2	0

PitchingWP:Kerstin Osborne

Pitches-Strikes:Kerstin Osborne93-63

Groundouts-Flyouts:Kerstin Osborne6-11

First pitch strikes-Batters faced:Kerstin Osborne27-36

Lincoln has three away games on the upcoming schedule but the Railers return home on Tuesday, April 24th to host Bloomington at 4:30 p.m.

[Teena Lowery]