Eagles advance with hot start

ORIENT — The East Union and Orient-Macksburg softball teams have met four times in the 2023 season, now standing at 2-2 in those matchups.

But the Eagles captured the one that mattered most Friday night, building on an early 4-0 start to defeat the host Bulldogs, 12-5, to open Class 1A Region 3 competition. East Union (14-18) advances to a home game at 7 p.m. Wednesday against Murray (24-5), which got past Melcher-Dallas, 3-2, in eight innings Friday night.

Orient-Macksburg ends his winningest season in several years at 15-17 overall. It was the final game for Bulldog seniors Christa Cass, Logann Carson and Brandy Bracy.

“We lost the first one and won the second, then we lost the third and won the fourth. It was our turn!” said East Union first-year coach Sara Keeler. “Getting the lead early gives them confidence. If we get down early, they hang their heads. We have seven freshmen out there.”

Kayli Shade’s single after Avery Staver’s infield hit put East Union on the board with a 1-0 lead in the first inning, and it stretched to 4-0 in the second inning. An error on a pickoff throw and RBI hits by Sidney Staver and Kinzey Ripperger boosted the Eagles to a 7-0 advantage before O-M batted in the third inning.

The Bulldogs managed to score three runs in the bottom of the third, but the hole was too deep to climb out of as the East Union offense stayed on the attack with 16 hits against O-M pitchers Emma Boswell and Kinsey Eslinger.

“We had good at-bats,” Keeler said. “We work every single day on hitting. We do a lot of individual work on getting your hands to the ball.”

O-M coach Mike Cooley thought his team might be able to mount a comeback, but East Union pitcher Sara Collins allowed only seven hits while finishing with four strikeouts and five walks.

“We had talked about how getting off to a good start would be important,” Cooley said. “We had a little trouble getting some runners in. In the first inning we hit the ball hard but they made some good catches. We were hoping to play Wednesday, but we needed a few more hits with the runners on base.”

Carter Osborne had a productive night at the plate for the Bulldogs with a double, two singles and one RBI. Emily Campbell had two hits, Christa Cass had a hit and RBI, Boswell doubled and Eslinger drove in a run on a sacrifice fly.

Six different Eagles had multiple hits in the game. First baseman Noelle McKnight extended her school records of six home runs this season and seven for her career with a solo shot to center field in the second inning. McKnight also doubled in the game.

Sidney Staver finished with four singles and three RBIs. Ripperger had three hits and an RBI. Gwen Nixon, Avery Staver and Haley Willett each rapped two hits for the Eagles, and Shade had one RBI hit.

Keeler said Collins did a good job of following the game plan in pitching to the Bulldogs.

“Sara threw really well tonight,” Keeler said. “She mixed a lot of pitches. We had the charts from the last three times we played them, so we knew what they could and couldn’t hit.”

Boswell was O-M’s starting pitcher and allowed 10 hits in three innings with five strikeouts and no walks. Eslinger allowed six hits in four innings with two strikeouts and no walks. Cooley said O-M pitchers deserved a better fate, but several shallow flyballs fell in for base hits.

“We started talking to our outfielders about playing in more because they were dropping hits in front of us,” Cooley said. “It wasn’t our night, but we had a good season. Someone was telling me that we had the most wins since 2008 or 2009.”