Cardinal, Highland beat SEC foes

It was a strong week for the Union area’s small school softball teams, even when they were playing some of the bigger schools in the area.

  Buy Photo

Cardinal and Highland both picked up road wins over Southeast Conference teams last week, as the Comets knocked off Mt. Pleasant 7-3 on Thursday night, while Highland beat Washington 4-3 at the Demons’ home invitational on Saturday.

On Thursday in Mt. Pleasant, Cardinal scored the first four runs and held a 4-0 lead until Mt. Pleasant cut it to 4-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

  Buy Photo

The Panthers had a chance to storm back, but Cardinal put up three runs in its final at-bat, including a two-run blast by freshman Sophia Brown.

“It felt pretty good, because I hadn’t gotten a hit yet in this game,” Brown said. “I knew I was going up there looking for my pitch. I just sat on it, and got the pitch where I wanted it to be.”

Erika Haines went 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Summer Larue was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Macy Grove knocked in one run.

Maclain Hickenbottom was 2-for-4 at the plate, and gave up just three runs (one earned) in the circle, while striking out 10 Panthers in a complete-game effort.

“We’ve had a few games where she’s put a lot on her shoulders,” said Cardinal head coach Dustin LaRue. “We saw tonight, she was able to overcome that part of it, and say ‘it’s alright, let’s get the next one.’”

Mt. Pleasant was led by Saige Burchett, who finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Linzy Striegel and Keagyn Coleman each had a double and an RBI as well.

  Buy Photo

A few days later in Washington, the area’s small schools struck again. This time it was Highland, which took out the Demons in the first game of Washington’s Eddie Jones Invitational.

In that game, Highland scored four runs in the top of the fourth. Washington responded with two in the second and one in the third. Washington had the bases loaded in the fifth, but a diving catch by Kamryn Fink in center field ended the threat, and the game, due to a time limit.

Despite the loss for Washington, freshman Makenzie Messer had a strong game, going 1-for-1 with two RBIs, while Leighton Salazar scored one run.

Listed below are other small school softball scores from the weekend.

Thursday, June 26

Wapello 7, Pekin 5

Lone Tree 5, Columbus 0

Holy Trinity Catholic 10, Hillcrest Academy 1

Louisa-Muscatine 11, WACO 0

Central Lee 17, New London/WMU 4

Van Buren County 7, Danville 3

Cardinal 9, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 1

Friday, June 27

No. 2 (2A) Louisa-Muscatine 6, Highland 5

Pekin 12, WACO 0

Lone Tree 11, Hillcrest Academy 1

Van Buren County 10, New London/WMU 1

Keota 3, BGM 2

Linn-Mar 11, Mid-Prairie 1

Northeast 15, Mid-Prairie 5

Saturday, June 28

Iowa Valley 15, WACO 5

Assumption 14, Highland 0

Pekin 4, Moravia 2

North Linn 9, Mid-Prairie 8

Lisbon 12, Mid-Prairie 3