Urbana 14, Shawnee 0 (5 innings)
Urbana continued its red-hot stretch Friday night, extending its win streak to eight games with arguably its most impressive victory of the season, a dominant 14-0 run-rule shutout over Division V No. 2 Shawnee. The loss was just the third of the season for the Lady Braves.
Isla Wooten was outstanding in the circle, tossing a five-inning complete game shutout on just 66 pitches. Wooten allowed only five hits and one walk while striking out four, consistently working out of any small trouble and keeping Shawnee off the board all night.
After a scoreless opening inning, Urbana broke through in the second. The Lady Climbers took advantage of defensive miscues and timely hitting, scoring three runs. Morgan Boyd came around to score when Morgan Hoffman’s ball to right was misplayed, before Lillian Webb and Chloe Easterday each delivered RBI doubles to make it 3-0.
Urbana blew the game open in the fourth. Three straight one-out singles loaded the bases for Bailee Packer, who continued her torrid stretch at the plate by launching a grand slam to center field on the sixth pitch of the at-bat. It was her third grand slam in the last five games and ninth home run of the season, pushing the lead to 7-0. Hoffman later added a two-run double to stretch the advantage to 9-0.
The Lady Climbers put the run rule into effect in the fifth with another offensive surge. Four straight two-out hits brought home five more runs, with RBI knocks from Boyd, Maley Pine, and Hoffman before Wooten added a two-run single to center. Though Wooten was tagged out trying to stretch it into a double to end the inning, Urbana still carried a commanding 14-0 lead into the bottom half.
Wooten closed the door by stranding two runners in the fifth to secure the shutout.
Every batter in Urbana’s lineup recorded at least one hit, and seven different players drove in at least one run. Packer led the offense with four RBIs on two hits, while Easterday paced the team with three hits.
Urbana improves to 17-6 with its eighth straight win and will look to keep rolling Saturday on the road at Covington.
Jonathan Alder 9, Benjamin Logan 1
Benjamin Logan dropped a 9-1 road decision Friday night against a strong Jonathan Alder squad, as the Lady Raiders were limited offensively after scoring first.
The Raiders opened the game with two-out offense in the top of the first. Rylan Norviel reached on an infield single before Adilynne Gregg followed with a single to center. Norviel advanced to third and later scored on a Jonathan Alder throwing error during a pickoff attempt, giving Benjamin Logan a quick 1-0 lead.
Jonathan Alder answered immediately in the bottom of the inning, using a one-out single and timely hitting to even the score at 1-1.
After a scoreless second inning, the Lady Pioneers took full control in the third. A one-out RBI single gave Jonathan Alder the lead before a two-run homer later in the inning stretched the margin to 4-1.
Jonathan Alder continued to add on, plating three more runs in the fourth and two additional runs in the fifth to build a commanding 9-1 lead.
Benjamin Logan’s offense struggled to generate anything after the opening frame. Following Norviel and Gregg’s first-inning singles, the Raiders managed just one additional baserunner the rest of the night—a two-out single from Tanna Jacobs in the seventh.
Norviel, Gregg, and Jacobs accounted for Benjamin Logan’s only three hits, with Norviel scoring the Raiders’ lone run.
Benjamin Logan falls to 9-11 and will travel to Celina on Saturday.
