For the second day in a row at the Ripken Experience – Pigeon Forge, the Madisonville North Hopkins softball team split a doubleheader, topping Ross, OH 16-10 and dropping a 6-0 decision to Metamora, IL.
The Lady Maroons banged out 15 hits to overcome eight errors in the opener. After Ross took an early 3-0 advantage, Madisonville used an RBI triple from Sadie Kirk and a run-scoring double from Mackenzie Stoltz to tie the game in the third.
Madisonville broke the game open in its next at-bat, with RBI singles by Stoltz and Maggie Killough, a run-scoring double by Sydney Skeen, and Sophie Frailley’s two-run triple, giving the Lady Maroons a 9-3 lead.
Ross got as close as 11-9 with a pair of runs in the sixth before RBI doubles by Kirk and Katelynn Rodgers, and a triple to drive in a run for Skeen, made things a little more comfortable for the Lady Maroons at 16-9.
Kirk earned the win in the circle, allowing 10 runs, two earned, on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts over seven innings. She also collected three hits and drove in a pair of runs.
Stoltz led the Lady Maroons with three hits and three RBI, Skeen was 3/4 with a pair of runs driven in, and Killough and Frailley each finished with two RBI.
Paige Baker took the loss for Ross, giving up 16 runs, 12 earned, on 15 hits with five walks and seven strikeouts. Baker was also 2/4 with two RBI, and Meadow Webb drove in two runs.
The errors continued for the Lady Maroons in the second game, but the hits and runs dried up. Kirk had two of Madisonville’s three hits, and Killough had the other.
Stoltz took the loss, surrendering six runs, three earned, on four hits with a walk and 10 strikeouts.
For Metamora, Nora Johnson only gave up a single hit with seven strikeouts over four frames to earn the win. Kaidance Till drove in two runs, and Bailey Bender and Kennedy Nee each had an RBI.
After a day off on Wednesday, Madisonville will close out play in Pigeon Forge with a doubleheader against Copley, OH and Hendersonville, TN.
