Overcoming a loss in the first round of their State Tournament, the Lady O’s softball team completed their 2015 fall season with a Runner-Up title to the Douglas Patriots.
Saturday afternoon, Lennox faced West Central in game one of the tournament jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Three more were added in the third inning, one more in the fourth and two in the sixth inning for the Lady O’s. Leading the offense, Maranda McLaren went three for four at the plate with three singles and three RBI. Mahli Strasser and Tessa Friese each stroked doubles to the outfield while CarLee Mechels and Grace Kidd each had two singles. Katie Daugherty and Mckenzie Thompson each found a single as well. M. Strasser pitched 2-2/3 innings for Lennox putting three strike-outs in the book and allowing three walks. Daugherty assumed pitching duties to finish 3-1/3, issuing one free pass and fanning two Lady Trojans. Capitalizing on timely hits as well as defensive errors committed, West Central put eight runs on the board in the third inning. Additional hits in the remaining three innings plated seven more runs as West Central grabbed the first game in a 17-9 victory over Lennox and send them to the loser’s bracket.
Vermillion was game two on the docket for Saturday scoring no runs in the first three innings. M. Strasser opened the game with a single and advanced on an error committed on Abbie Strasser’s sacrifice bunt. M. Strasser later scored on a wild pitch while A. Strasser put the second run in the book from a RBI single by Mechels. McLaren and Abby Neu each put singles in play in the second, but were left on base. Friese pulled a double down the left field line, but also was stranded on the base path to end the third. McLaren crushed a solo homerun to left center in the fourth to put Lennox on top 3-2. The Lady Tanagers quickly answered with two runs in the top of the fifth to get back on top 4-3. Despite singles from Kidd and Friese, Lennox was unable to answer until the bottom of the seventh.
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