CENTERVILLE, Ind. – The Lincoln girls softball team won the Wayne County Tournament on Saturday with a 5-1 victory over Northeastern in the championship contest.
“As a team, I thought we played well,” Lincoln Head Coach Scott Griffin said. “We had good pitching in both games and we just keep getting better defensively.”
The Golden Eagles (6-1) came though on offense as well.
“The adjustments we made at the plate makes it hard to get through our lineup,” Griffin said.
Lincoln started the finale with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning as the Golden Eagles scored a run on a wild pitch and then added a sacrifice fly by Jaela Patton.
The score remained 2-0 until the top of the fourth when Northeastern’s Madison Kinder knocked in a run on a ground out to cut the deficit in half for the Knights. Chaise Helton, who had doubled, scored the run for the Knights (1-6).
The Golden Eagles were able to answer in the fifth with three unearned runs.
Kaleigh Lamb, who led the Golden Eagles with two hits, had a run-scoring single before Emmie Pugh added a RBI ground out.
Patton followed with a hard hit grounder that produced the final run of the contest.
Lamb went the distance on the mound for Lincoln to earn the victory, while Kinder tossed a complete game for the Knights.
Consolation Game
Centerville defeated Hagerstown 15-5 in the consolation contest.
Jade Hill led the Bulldogs (2-3) with two hits and two RBI, while Shelby Koch and Cassidy Weiss also had two hits.
Megan Stelle picked up the win as she pitched three innings with Koch finishing the final two frames.
For the Tigers (0-7), Taylor Kelley and Lexi Ramey both had two hits and knocked in two runs.
First Round
Lincoln began the tournament with 9-1 victory over Centerville.
Hannah Hall tossed a complete game with 11 strikeouts for the Golden Eagles.
Alyssa Messer had three hits, while Laynie Russell hit a home run and Patton drove in three runs.
Kenzie Lanman had a pair of hits to lead the Bulldogs and on the mound she had seven strikeouts.
Northeastern defeated Hagerstown 15-8 to advance to the championship game.
Leah Hoskins had three hits to lead the Knights.
Kelley and Emma Hicks had two hits apiece for the Tigers.