Softball Panthers move over .500 mark — again
Flirting with the .500 mark has become a staple for the 2008 OTHS girls' softball team.
Panthers Coach Kate Walsh's squad moved above that watermark once again on Tuesday afternoon with a 14-0 drubbing of East St. Louis.
The lop-sided victory was forged on a 13-hit attack led by Rachel Burroughs, Ashley Matheis, Morgan Schulte and Lauren Smith, all of whom had multiple hits. The Panthers pounced on the Flyers with five runs in the first inning and rode the two-hit pitching of Ashley Proper to the victory.
The win came on the heels of Monday afternoon's 7-3 loss to Freeburg and a 2-2 performance in last weekend's Triad tournament. Losses to Wesclin (2-0) and Alton (11-8) bookended two victories.
After being shut out by Wesclin in the opening round, the Panther girls came back with a solid outing against Murphysboro. Singles by Holland and Rolla to start the third inning helped the Panthers score twice to take an initial lead.
In the next frame, Holland and Rolla were again involved in the action, producing two more singles in the middle of a rally that netted the Panthers three more runs. Murphysboro began to chip away at the O'Fallon lead through the middle innings, but another tally in the top of the seventh, started by Aubrey Harris' double helped secure a 6-4 win.
Six was the magic number once again in game number three of tourney play. The O'Fallon girls erased a 2-1 deficit in the top of the fifth when they exploded for five runs against Bunker Hill.
Singles by Schulte and Shewmaker began the rally. An error by the Bunker Hill first baseman allowed the inning to continue, and Jessi Holland made them pay with a ringing double into the outfield. Holland's critical hit chased home the first two runs of the frame. Subsequent hits by Rolla and Matheis produced runs number four and five - more than enough insurance to secure a 6-2 victory.
The tournament victories combined with the SWC win over East St. Louis improves the local girls' seasonal mark to 13-12.
