Lady Dawgs Defeat Earlham
By Amber Bucher
The Lady Dawgs made the long trek to Missouri Valley for a Varsity tournament on Saturday, June 6th. The Lady Dawgs faced some great competition and had some bright spots to build on throughout the day. In the final game of the day, the Lady Dawgs faced the Earlham Cardinals and were visitors on the scoreboard.
Musich started in the circle for the Lady Dawgs and the Cardinals jumped out to a 0-2 lead after one inning of play. In the top of the second, Zoey Nicholas got things started when she reached first on a dropped third strike. Charlotte Shafar then singled on a hard ground ball to right. After Nicholas was caught stealing, Shafar went to work on the base path and scored on a passed ball, making the score 1-2 after the top of the second. Earlham scored two more runs in the bottom of the second inning for a 1-4 score after two innings.
Earlham added a run in the bottom of the third for a 1-5 lead. Shafar singled on a bunt to get things started in the top of the 4th. Matheny then singled on a line drive to center. Eliza Johnson singled on a ground ball to second that scored Shafar before Matheny scored on an error by the Cardinals’ second baseman making the score 3-5 in favor of the Cardinals.. The fifth inning found the first three Bulldogs hitters, Morgan Irvin, Kenley Irvin, and Nicholas walking. The next batter struck out looking before Matheny went to the plate with the bases loaded and hit a grand slam to the delight of the Bulldog faithful making the score 7-5 as the Bulldogs and their fans went wild. The Lady Dawgs went to the field and played great defense in the bottom of the 5th and 6th innings to make 7-5 the final.
Simmons, Musich, Johnson and Tyla Hardee each had 1 hit in the matchup. Shafar, Matheny and Kinley Beemer each had 2 hits. Johnson had 1 RBI while Matheny had 4. Morgan Irvin, Kenley Irvin and Zoey Nicholas each scored 1 run. Matheny and Shafar each scored 2 runs. Musich started in the circle for the Lady Dawgs, going 2 innings and giving up 7 hits and 4 runs while collecting 1 strikeout. Matheny pitched 4 innings in relief and gave up 4 hits and 1 run while collecting 5 strikeouts.