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The Madisonville-North Hopkins softball team opened play in the Ripken Experience – Pigeon Forge on Monday, earning a doubleheader split with a 9-5 loss to Clinton-Massie, OH, and a 6-0 victory over York, IL, behind Mackenzie Stoltz’s no-hitter.
The Lady Maroons saw a four-game winning streak come to an end in the opener despite a home run to open the game by Sadie Kirk. Leading 3-0 in the bottom of the third, Madisonville saw its cushion cut to a run on an RBI triple by Karley Goodin and a run-scoring single by Sydney Doyle.
Sydney Skeen got in on the long-ball act with a two-run home run in the fifth to restore the Lady Maroons’ three-run edge, but Clinton-Massie answered with seven runs in the bottom of the frame to seal the win.
Kirk took the loss for Madisonville, allowing nine runs, seven earned, on 10 hits with eight strikeouts over five innings.
Skeen finished 3/3 with two RBI, Kirk had two hits and drove in a run, and Maggie Killough had a hit and an RBI.
Clinton-Massie’s Maddie Courson pitched her way to a complete-game win, giving up four earned runs on nine hits with three walks and six strikeouts.
Madisonville bounced back behind a near-perfect performance in the circle by Stoltz. She struck out 11 with no hits and no walks over seven innings, with a pair of errors denying her a perfect game.
The Lady Maroons handed Stoltz a lead on Reese Renth’s second-inning RBI single before Stoltz helped herself with a solo home run to double the margin in the third.
Stoltz added an RBI triple in the fifth, and the Lady Maroons closed out the scoring in the sixth with an RBI single by Katelyn Rodgers and a run-scoring double by Renth.
Avery Kanouse took the loss for York, IL, surrendering six earned runs on eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
Stoltz finished 3/3 with a pair of RBI, and Katelyn Rodgers and Renth each had two hits and drove in two runs.
Madisonville will be back on the field on Tuesday for matchups with Ross, OH and Metamora, IL.
