Lady Jays Softball
Pierce Softball Lady Jays Play in Boone Central Tournament
By Jana Stone
The Pierce Lady Jays softball team made their way to Boone Central to play in a tournament on Saturday, Sept. 2. The Lady Jays lost against Polk County, Boone Central/Newman Grove, and Centura-Central Valley.
The first game of the day was against Polk County. Pierce took the first loss of the day with the score being 13-1. The lone run for the Lady Jays was made by Hayle DeBoer in the first inning of the game. The team had a total of three hits made by Madelyn Hanson, Jessa Kraft, and Alexis Sporleder. The pitcher Kylie Dvorak had a total of two strikeouts.
The second game was against Boone Central/Newman Grove. The Lady Jays lost with a score of 16-7. Sporleder led the team with two runs. Evelyn Skrdla, Angeline Skrdla, DeBoer, Hanson, and Amber Shefl all had one run each. The pitchers had a total of five strikeouts. Hanson led with a total of three and DeBoer had two.
The last game of the day was against Centura-Central Valley. Pierce lost the game with a close score of 6-3. Hanson led the team with the most runs of two and E. Skrdla had one run. Hanson and DeBoer each had one stolen base in the game. Pitcher Dvorak had a total of six strikeouts.
The Lady Jays will next play NEN Vipers on Thursday, Sept. 7.
Softball Finishes Strong Against O’Neill
By Savannah Beutler
The Pierce High Lady Jays had a game at home at the softball complex by the Pierce High School on Thursday, Aug. 31, and came away with the 8-7 win late in the seventh inning.
The Lady first started out the game by scoring two in the first inning. The first run was Evelyn Skrdla with an RBI from Jessa Kraft. The second score was Madelyn Hanson with a single from Alexis Sporleder. Pierce gave up two runs to O’Neill in the first inning.
The bottom of the second inning Pierce scored one point with a Peyton Brunckhorst run hit in by Evelyn Skrdla; however, O’Neill scored three runs this inning, leaving the Bluejays trailing 5-3.
The third and fourth innings, Pierce remained scoreless, while giving up two runs to the Eagles in the top of the third.
But in the fifth inning Pierce did score two, with runs by Hanson and Hayle DeBoer, putting the score 7-5 with Pierce trailing.
The sixth inning the Lady Jays scored two once and held O’Neill scoreless again making the score 7-7. Hanson and DeBoer scored here as well. Kraft hit a single out to center field letting DeBoer score.
In the bottom of the seventh, Cailynn Gardner scored with a hit from DeBoer, letting the Lady Jays win the game.
Within the game, Kylie Dvorak had 46 pitches, Hanson had 56.
Freshman Kraft led the game with a .667 batting average.
Senior Angeline Skrdla says, “Our biggest improvement is staying in the game and our girls always having a good attitude/mindset, and battling back when we are down.” With having this improvement this is what led them to winning this game. A. Skrdla goes on to say something the ladies need to work on is, “When we get down on ourselves is to focus more.”
Make sure to catch the next game versus the NEN Vipers on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m.
Pierce Lady Jays Dominate over Cuming County Cadets
By Peyton Kruntorad
On Tuesday, Aug. 29, Pierce softball team traveled to West Point and played Cuming County, and as a result of their hard work, the Lady Jays won 12-2.
In the first inning, Pierce scored three runs. In the second inning, the Lady Jays put up seven runs making the score 10-0. Moving to the third inning, the Cadets were able to hold on, scoring two runs. However, Pierce scored two runs in the last inning, and the game ended early, 12-2 in favor of Pierce.
Alexis Sporleder led the team with three hits. Jessa Kraft and Madelyn Hanson both had one hit.
Leading the team with five RBIs was Sporleder. Peyton Brunckhorst and Hanson both contributed one RBI.
Scoring three runs for the Lady Jays were Evelyn Skrdla and Hayle DeBoer. Hanson scored two runs. Sporleder, Brunckhorst, Kraft, and Amber Shefl each scored one run.
When asked about the girls’ performance, head coach Mike Emory states, ”The girls showed good discipline at the plate, the Cuming County pitcher struggled to throw strikes. Lexi Sporleder had a great night at the plate. Kylie Dvorak pitched a complete game and the defense behind her was excellent.”
The Lady Jays will be playing at home against the NEN Vipers on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m.
