New London girls take first two games of season

NEW LONDON - There might be a lot of new faces for the New London softball team this season, but they've picked up right where the 2018 state-qualifying team left off. The Tigers picked up two wins in two days this week, taking down Mediapolis 14-4 on Wednesday and beating Central Lee 8-5 on Thursday.

The Tigers only needed five innings to defeat Mepo. They scored two runs in the first inning, one in the second, two in the third, seven in the fourth and two in the fifth. Mediapolis scored one in the fourth and three in the fifth.

Sofie Reighard had a big game, going 2-3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Elly Manning was 1-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Claire Jones and Kaylor Schulte each went 1-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Alexa Wenger was 3-4 with an RBI. Kara Krieger went 2-3 with three runs scored. Marah Hartrick was 1-2 with three runs scored. Layney Loyd went 1-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases, and Ashlyn McSorley went 2-4 with a run scored.

Chloe Heitmeier picked up the win in the circle, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and one walk, over five innings. She struck out two.

The Tigers went back-and-forth with Central Lee on Thursday. Both teams scored in the first but Central Lee took a 2-1 lead in the second. New London responded with five in the third to take a 6-2 lead. Central Lee cut the lead to one run, at 6-5, with a three-run fourth, but New London tacked on two insurance runs in the fifth.

Loyd was 2-3 with an RBI and two runs scored. McSorley went 2-3 with two runs scored. Krieger was 1-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Both Hartrick and Reighard finished the day with two RBIs, and Manning scored one run.

Heitmeier threw all seven innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on 10 hits and no walks, while striking out four.

New London will play their first road game of the year on Tuesday, May 28. They'll travel to Danville for an SEISC South Division showdown.