Cobras pitcher Morgan Parrish pitches while third baseman Brigette Belt stands ready for action.
Alex Davidson
Staff Writer
Parkland’s softball team won two close home games against the University of Illinois’ softball club team; the first game had five innings, the second had four.
The first inning of the first game began with Bree Schultz stepping up to bat for the guest team, U of I. She hit the ball and got to first base. She also scored the first point of the game when her teammate Carolyn Hett went out, putting the guests in the lead by one point.
When it came time for Parkland to step up to the plate, Kyliegh Basham struck out, followed by Maddy Shoemaker and Makayla Reedy, leaving the lead to the guest team.
The second inning began with U of I player Valerie Sherman getting a walk after two strikes, followed by earning her team’s second point. Her teammate Madison O’Donnell scored the third point immediately after. The next three hits ended in tag outs.
During the U of I team’s batting during the second inning, Parkland player Lauren Wendling hurt her ankle while attempting to catch a ball in the outfield. She had to be taken to the hospital and was out for the rest of the first game and the entirety of the second.
Parkland stepped up to bat, with Morgan Parrish hitting first. She scored the Cobras’ first point, beginning to chip away at the three-point lead by the other team. Shelby Youngblood made a hit, but got a force out before she made it to first base. Lauren Spelich then got a walk, but got tagged out when Madyson Butkauskas hit. Butkauskas was subsequently forced out.
During the third inning, not a single U of I player made it to first base. The first two, Morgan Soderland and Crystal Levitske, were forced out, before Sherman struck out. The Cobras managed to get Basham on base, but the other three batters got tagged out before she had a chance to make it back to home plate.
In the fourth inning, the guests managed to get somebody on a base, but yet again, all the other batters struck out before she could score. Parkland player Reedy scored a third point for the home team, creating a tie going into the fifth inning, before the other batters all struck out.
During the fifth inning, all three batters on the guest team struck out, leaving the home team to score at least one more point for the win. Two of the players went out, before Reedy scored one last point, breaking the tie and winning the first game for the Cobras.
The second game was much less eventful. Schultz on the guest team hit the ball after two strikes. The other three players hit the balls, but each time got tagged out before they made it to first base, leaving them with no points. The home team also went out almost immediately, with only Spelich hitting the ball.
The second inning went much the same as the first for the U of I, with nobody scoring, and only Kimmy Zaucha hitting the ball before it was caught in mid-air. For the home team, all three batters hit the ball, but one was tagged out, one was forced out, and the third out got out from a catch.
During the third inning, the Parkland Cobras scored the only point of the game. Parrish stepped up to bat, and hit a home run, followed by a lap around the bases with the entire team cheering.
The fourth inning ended early, with three batters going out before anybody scored on the guest team, meaning that the second half of the fourth inning would have been superfluous.
