Saturday softball: Royals, Rocks split games in tournaments

The REPORTER

The Hamilton Southeastern softball team split a pair of games at the Whiteland Tournament last Saturday.

The Royals beat Seymour in their first game, 10-0 in six innings. The Royals started with three runs in the first inning, added a run in the third, then scored three more runs in the fourth and sixth innings.

Kaitlyn Burdick smacked a three-run home run in the sixth inning. Addison Richmond hit a fourth-inning triple and later scored on a Sophia Feher double. Maya Valenta hit two doubles, while Kenzie Lee, Tori Bricker, Burdick and Richmond all had one double.

Burdick totaled scored four runs and drove in four runs on three hits. Richmond also had three hits, while Valenta batted in three runs. Grace Swedarsky went five innings for the win, striking out 10 and allowing just one hit.

The Royals dropped their second game to host Whiteland 4-2. Richmond led off with a home run, but the Warriors came back by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first.

Whiteland added one run in both the third and sixth innings. Burdick doubled in Richmond for a seventh-inning run.

Richmond was 3-for-4, while Bricker also hit a double. Natavia Wright and Carly McCall both pitched three innings, striking out four each.

Southeastern is 9-5 and plays at Fishers Tuesday in the Mudsock game. The Royals return home Friday to host Pendleton Heights.

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Westfield played at the Kokomo Tournament last weekend, winning two of three games.

The Shamrocks won their opening contest last Friday, beating Illiana Christian 8-1. Both teams began their scoring with a run in the second inning. The Shamrocks’ Reese Mahannah got a walk to start the top of the inning, stole second base and went home when Sydney Jordan sent a base hit into right field.

Westfield added three runs in the third inning, all with two outs. Jordan batted in another run with a left field hit, scoring Chloe Tanner. Reese Gettinger sent a single into center field, bringing in Mahannah and Jordan.

The Shamrocks put up another four runs in the sixth inning. Dylan Todd got home on Ava Kainrath’s sacrifice fly, then Tanner hit a line drive to score Makayla Watson. Sofia Easterhaus and Tanner then scored on errors. Illiana Christian got three runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Westfield held on for the win.

Easterhaus, Tanner and Jordan all had two hits. Mackenzie Delph pitched a complete game, striking out seven.

In their first game last Saturday, the Shamrocks fell to Roncalli 14-4 in five innings. The Royals led 5-0 by the middle of the third inning; Easterhaus scored Westfield’s first run in the bottom of the third.

Roncalli put up nine runs in the top of the fifth to lead 14-1. Westfield made a comeback in the bottom of the fifth: Tanner doubled in Adelyn Kurth and Watson, then Cam Pulice singled Tanner home before the Royals got the third out.

The ‘Rocks rebounded to beat Bellmont 7-3 in their third game. The Braves scored three run in the third inning before Westfield took control with a five-run fifth inning.

Gettinger led off with a single, then Todd came in to run for her. Kainrath smacked a double, moving Todd to third base. Annika Lawrence hit a sacrifice bunt to send Todd home, then Kainrath scored on an error. Kurth singled in Lawrence to tie the game, then Olivia Sampia drove in Watson and Kurth with a center field hit.

Lawrence batted in Todd with a sixth-inning hit, then Gettinger batted in Kurth with a seventh-inning single to complete the scoring. Kurth went 3-for-3 at the plate, with Pulice counting a double among her two hits. Gettinger also had two hits.

Jordan pitched five innings for the win, striking out four.

Westfield is 6-4 for the season. The ‘Rocks host Noblesville on Tuesday, play at Yorktown Thursday, then host Bishop Chatard on Friday.