By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Vikings took advantage of a myriad of mistakes en route to securing a 10-1 victory to give East Hardy Softball its 14th consecutive loss last Friday in Petersburg.
When it rains, it pours as rainy conditions before the game led to some errors as havoc ensued for the Cougars (1-14).
East Hardy leadoff batter Addison Armentrout smacked a single into center field off Petersburg pitcher Olivia Kimble starting the game.
Petersburg catcher Ella Markwood caught Armentrout stealing second base with the tag made by shortstop Shyane Tawney.
Gracie Heishman grounded out and Brooke Moyers went down swinging as the Cougars were out in order.
Tawney reached base on an error in the bottom of the first inning for the Vikings, then stole second base.
Petersburg’s Miley Tingler created an RBI triple with the help of an error in left field, then scored on a passed ball for a 2-0 lead.
East Hardy pitcher Ginger Combs countered by inducing a groundout by Ella Chew.
Markwood hopped aboard with an error and courtesy runner Cheyenne Sites stole second and third base.
Addison Kitzmiller delivered an RBI single into right field and dashed to second base on an error putting the Vikings up 3-nil.
East Hardy third baseman Brooke Moyers caught a pop-up in foul territory, then Combs issued a walk to Blair Loy before a fielder’s choice out by Moyers off the bat of Karli Benedetto ended the frame.
“They helped us. We had some hitting, but there were some balls that came should have been outs. There were some balls that they should have caught and they have struggled with that. If you put the ball in play, you have a chance. We played Frankfort last night and it was a 13 strikeout night, we struck out a lot. It was good to come out here and put some balls into play tonight,” Petersburg coach Dwayne “Bubba” Hedrick stated.
Ginger Combs grounded out for the Cougars to commence the second inning, then April Dove drew a walk.
Kimble stranded Dove with back-to-back strikeouts to Taylor McReynolds and Jaylynn Combs
Petersburg made a splash on the field in the bottom of the second inning as Quenlynn Cole sliced a benign single in center field which developed into an error for an inside-the-park home run.
The Cougars countered with two consecutive outs as Armentrout caught a pop-up and fielded a grounder.
The Vikings responded as Ella Chew crunched a solo home run extending the lead to 5-nil.
Moyers fielded a groundout to stop the damage.
After a fly ball by East Hardy’s Bella Bauserman in deep center field was caught by Cole in the third inning, Paylynn Rexrode struck out.
Armentrout connected for a single and was caught stealing again with a tag by Tawney and was injured on the play, but would make a return two innings later.
Petersburg started the bottom of the third inning with consecutive singles from Kitzmiller and Abigail Nettles, then Loy hit into a fielder’s choice out at third base.
DiBenedetto singled to load the bases for the Vikings, then Cole was issued a free pass scoring Nettles.
Tawney played Loy as her shot ricocheted off the glove of McReynolds in center field for a 7-0 advantage.
East Hardy third baseman Jaylynn Combs turned a double play to get out of the jam throwing home to catcher Gracie Heishman.
The Cougars failed to get on the pond in the fourth inning with two groundouts and a fly out.
Chew singled down the third base line for the Vikings and stole second base.
Markwell smacked a single into left field which eluded Combs for an error allowing Chew to score, 8-0.
Kitzmiller singled and Nettles hit into an infield fly rule out by Moyers.
Petersburg kept the momentum going as Sites slammed an RBI single into right field and DiBenedetto recorded an RBI groundout for a 10-nil lead.
Combs prevented further catastrophe by striking out Cole to close the inning.
Dove was it by a pitch to start the fifth inning for East Hardy, then Vikings pitcher Kimble countered with a strikeout to McReynolds.
The Cougars looked for a rally as Jaylynn Combs and Bauserman ripped back-to-back singles with the latter plating base runner Leah Nicholson to deny a shutout, 10-1.
The Vikings prevented another run as Kimble pitched a strikeout to Rexrode and jammed Armentrout into a pop-up caught by Kitzmiller to seal the 10-1 victory in five innings.
