St. Anthony Advances To Softball Sectional Final

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Published on May 25 2022 7:15 am
Last Updated on May 25 2022 7:32 am
Written by Millie Lange

MAROA -- Effingham St. Anthony trailed Bloomington Central Catholic . . . but only for an inning as the Bulldogs put together three straight scoring innings for an 8-6 victory in the Class 2A Maroa-Forsyth Softball Sectional Tuesday.

Bloomington C.C. opened the contest scoring two runs in the first inning as leadoff batter Aubrey Campbell drew a walk followed by back-to-back singles by Elyssa Stinger and Emily York. A ground out by Adie Wait brought a run home.

But the Bulldogs didn't let any grass grow under their feet. St. Anthony struck in the second, moving ahead 5-2. The inning started off with a walk to Sydney Kibler. Lucy Fearday attempted a sacrifice that ended up putting her on base along with advancing Kibler as the first baseman made an error. Then the play was repeated as Anna Faber sacrificed but also reached base on an error by the first baseman and suddenly the Bulldogs had the bases loaded.

Abbie Hatton sacrificed and a run came home. It was then back-to-back singles by Adyson Rios and Cameron Rios. Haley Niebrugge singled home two runs and when the dust had cleared, the Bulldogs held a 5-2 lead.

St. Anthony struck again and pushed its lead to 7-2 in the third. S. Kibler led off with a double and Fearday followed with a single. A. Rios knocked out a triple that scored both runners.

The lead went to 8-2 in the fourth when Maddie Kibler nailed a pitch for a solo home run with two outs.

However, Bloomington Central Catholic came back and made the game very interesting. The Saints rallied in the bottom of the fifth. Summer Clark drew a walk. With one out Stinger walked. Emily York followed with a single and Gabi Hurie singled home two runs. With two outs, Izzy Cambell then knocked out a single that scored the other two runs and the Saints had pulled within 8-6. The tying run was a the plate, however the Bulldogs got out of the frame when Grace Karolewicz picked up Cambell's hit in centerfield, threw to the catcher who then threw to third base, getting Cambell who had headed to third on the throw home.

The Bulldogs' Addie Wernsing singled in the sixth but was left stranded. The Saints' Ellie Stolfe drew a leadoff walk in the sixth but the Bulldogs put together three straight outs.

Faber singled in the seventh but was left stranded. York reached base on an error in the seventh but also was left stranded as the Bulldogs got the next two outs to end the contest.

Fearday went the entire seven innings on the mound, allowing six runs on five hits, four walks while striking out 10.

Niebrugge finished with two singles and two RBI while A. Rios had a single, triple and two RBI and M. Kibler a home run and an RBI.

The Bulldogs improved to 26-4 on the season while Bloomington C.C. saw its season come to a close with a 17-11 record.

In the opening contest Tuesday, Tolono Unity downed host  Maroa-Forsyth by a 9-1 count.

St. Anthony will now meet Tolono Unity at 11 a.m. Saturday for the sectional championship and a pass on to the Decatur Super-Sectional Monday. The opponent, if the Bulldogs win, will be either Macomb or Buffalo Tri-City. Those two will square off for the championship of the Athens Sectional Friday.

Class 2A Maroa-Forsyth Sectional

St. Anthony                       052    100    0    --    8-10-2

Bloomington C.C.            200    040    0    --    6- 5-2

WP -- Fearday. LP -- York.

St. Anthony -- C. Rios, single; Wernsing, single; Niebrugge, 2 singles, 2 RBI; M. Kibler, home run, 1 RBI; S. Kibler, double; Fearday, single; Faber, single; A. Rios, single, triple, 2 RBI

Bloomington Central Catholic -- Stinger, single; York, 2 singles; Hurie, single, 2 RBI; Cambell, single, 2 RBI