June 24, 2022

Southeast Valley softball faced off against the Titans from South Central Calhoun on Friday night in Lytton. The Jaguars came out victorious by a score of 13-2 in five innings of play. 

The Jags were able to put the defense and the offense together again against the Titans, starting right away in the first inning by scoring two runs on two hits. Ellie Nolte kept her hitting streak alive by leading off with a double roped to the left-center fence, reaching third on a SAC fly hit by Jordyn Rowley. Maddie Vansickle brought Nolte home on a hard hit to the shortstop that couldn’t be handled. 

In the second inning, Leilah Olson kept the bats alive, leading off with a single down the left field line followed by Lauren Eslick and Ellie Nolte both reaching base after getting hit by a pitch. With Jags loaded on the bases, Kenna Scott would step into the box. Scott drew the walk, loading the bases once again, but not before Olson showed her speed, scoring on a mishandled throwdown by the Titan third baseman. Alex Kitchen would be the only Jaguar to score in the third after hitting a laser through the middle of the SCC defense, reaching third on her own and scoring on a SAC bunt from freshman Chloe Lambert.

The bats got hot in the fourth and fifth innings, when the Jags were able to plate nine (combined) runs from several great hits in the lineup. Ellie Nolte got the fourth inning started with a single that dropped just inside of fair territory on the left field line and scored on a triple down the right field line from Rowley. Maddie Vansickle would step into the box and hit a SAC-fly to the Titan center fielder, scoring Jordyn Rowley from third. Rian Schlief and Alex Kitchen would keep things rolling, hitting singles and scoring on singles hit by Chloe Lambert and Leilah Olson. The fifth would bring the top of the order back up for the Jags where Nolte, Rowley, Vansickle, Schlief, and Lambert all recorded hits. 

Defensively, the Jaguars were flawless, collecting all 15 outs without recording a single defensive error. Freshman pitcher Chloe Lambert started in the circle for the Jags and with the help of her defense behind her, was able to hold the Titans scoreless through four innings, going three up, three down in each of the first four. Great plays were made by both the left and right sides of the infield, however in the bottom of the fifth, the Titans would score two after reaching base on one single and three walks. No outs were on the board when second baseman Leilah Olson completed a double play getting the Jags just one out away from the run rule victory. Junior pitcher Maddie Vansickle would step into the circle to finish the game for the Jags, facing the last batter and striking her out to give the Jags their second W on the week. 

The Jags look to end their long week on a high note on the road in the South Hamilton tournament starting at 10:30 AM Saturday morning against the Cadets from Iowa Falls and South Hamilton. 

Chloe Lambert: Winning pitcher, 4 IP, 1 SO, 1 Hit, 2 Runs, 1 Earned Run, 3 BB

Ellie Nolte: 2/4, 2 Doubles, 2 Runs 

Jordyn Rowley: 2/4, 1 single, 1 triple, 2 RBI’s 

Rian Schlief: 2/4, 2 singles, 2 runs, 1 RBI

Alex Kitchen: 324, 1 single, 1 double, 2 runs

Leilah Olson: 3/4, 3 singles, 1 run, 2 RBI’s