TEUTOPOLIS — Heading into Monday’s game against Teutopolis, Effingham head softball coach Jerry Trigg knew his team hadn’t played to its full potential through the first 16 games of the year.
After the first inning, it looked like the same problems would come back to haunt the Flaming Hearts.
Lady Shoes starting pitcher Alyssa Tipton sent the side down in order to start the game. She struck out shortstop Jerzi Bierman and right fielder Ryley Engel and got first baseman Sidney Donaldson to fly out to right.
EHS made three errors, leading to two runs, in the bottom of the first.
T-Town center fielder Kera Hartke reached on an error by the third baseman to start the game. She advanced to third after an error on the starting pitcher, Saige Althoff. Catcher Chloe Hoene reached first on the play to put runners at the corners.
Shortstop Malea Helmink then grounded out, scoring Hartke, to put the Lady Shoes ahead 1-0.
Left fielder Olivia Wermert struck out in her first at-bat.
Second baseman Kaleigh Zerrusen then hit a single to right. Courtesy runner Clara Mette, who was running for Hoene, scored after an error on the right fielder.
With a runner at second, Althoff worked around the trouble, getting first baseman Kylie Borries to fly out to right and end the frame.
The Hearts responded well after that, scoring three in the second and four in the third.
Third baseman Alyssa Martin started the run-scoring frame with an RBI single, plating Althoff — who courtesy ran for designated player Natalie Armstrong. Martin and Madi Kirk later scored after an error on the T-Town center fielder.
Center fielder Bria Beals then drew a walk and Bierman hit a single to load the stations with one out.
Tipton got Engel to strike out and Donaldson to fly out to end the threat.
Althoff yielded a leadoff double to right fielder Mallory Bloemer to open the bottom of the second. Tipton then lined into a double play and Jersey Gaddis flew out.
Four more runs came across in the top of the third, all with two outs.
Kirk hit a double and later scored on a run-scoring single by Hayes. Beals then hit a bloop single to center, scoring two runs and Engel hit an RBI single two batters later, plating Beals.
Catcher Mya Harvey hit a two-run home run in the top of the fourth.
EHS ended up loading the bases again, but Gaddis struck out Bierman and got Engel to ground out, ending the frame.
Gaddis hit an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth to make it 9-3.
Both teams didn’t score again until the top of the seventh when the Hearts scored twice. Donaldson scored on a wild pitch and Althoff scored after a fielder’s choice to make the 11-3 final.
Bierman finished the game with two hits. Kirk had two hits and two runs.
Engel had one hit and one RBI. Harvey, Martin and Beals had one hit, one run and two RBI. Hayes had one hit, one run and one RBI. Armstrong and Althoff scored two runs and Donaldson scored one.
Helmink and Gaddis had two hits for T-Town.
Hoene, Zerrusen and Bloemer had one hit. Borries had one hit and one run. Hartke and Mette scored one run.
“We knew they could play well,” Trigg said. “Alyssa throws the ball well. Last year, she kept us off-balance quite a bit and we couldn’t make adjustments. The first inning, we were a little nervous, but we settled down, made adjustments, put the ball in play and once we got the lead, it made it much easier to keep rolling.”
Althoff was brilliant for EHS, allowing eight hits, three runs (one earned) and three walks to six strikeouts in seven innings. She threw 107 pitches, 66 for strikeouts.
Monday was Althoff’s fourth complete game and first since last Tuesday against Mattoon. She is still recovering from an injury that occurred during basketball season.
“She’s still not near 100 percent,” Trigg said. “We’re trying to get [her] beefed up. I think that was her first seven-inning [game] in quite a while. That’s a good sign for us.”
Tipton started for the Lady Shoes and allowed eight hits, seven runs (two earned) and one walk to three strikeouts in three innings. Gaddis followed in the fourth and allowed one hit, four runs and nine walks to five strikeouts in four innings.
RECOGNIZING ZERRUSEN
THS honored its lone senior softball player, Zerrusen, before the game. She was greeted near the third-base line by head coach Crystal Tipton and assistant coach Eric Roley, who presented her with a rose for her parents before she received gifts from her teammates.
UP NEXT
Both teams return to action on Friday. The Hearts will play an Apollo Conference doubleheader at Charleston, with the first game starting at 4:30. The Lady Shoes will play St. Anthony in the Cross Creek Classic at Evergreen Hollow Park, under the lights, at 7 p.m.