Article and Photos by T Ray Henry
On a blustery afternoon in Marshall more appropriate for the Hundred Acre Woods than Clark County, Illinois, the Marshall High School Lions took their 3-0 record into a non-conference game versus Hutsonville-Palestine's Tigers, who came into the contest with a record of 5-0 while outscoring their opponents by a combined score of 57-1. The game was played on Thursday, March 26th at the Marshall softball diamond in front of a large crowd.
Junior pitcher Kyla Gustafson (Marshall) faced off against Hayden Monan (H-P) in the circle, with both hurlers looking to add to their early season strikeout totals. In her previous outing, Gustafson struck out 22 in a Lions win over Flora, while Monan has been averaging 7 strikeouts per outing while holding a record of 5-0.
In the top of the first inning, Hutsonville-Palestine scored a run to take a 1-0 lead on a hit batsman followed by one of the Tigers' two base hits on the day. In the bottom half of the inning, Marshall wasted no time loading up the bases, and with one out in the home half, Marshall catcher Klaire York turned on a 1 and 2 pitch and launched a deep drive over the fence in left field for a grand slam, giving the Big Red a 4-1 lead which propelled the squad to keep scoring in bunches.
In the bottom of the second inning, Lauren English drew a one out walk before consecutive singles by McKenzie Davis, Avery Cornwell, Klaire York, and Ella Mattas scored 3 runs while keeping the bases loaded. Kyla Gustafson then came up to bat and promptly smacked a double to centerfield that scored two more runs. Caitlyn Hilliard then brought home the sixth run of the inning by scoring Mattas, and after two innings of play, the Lions led 10-1.
After a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third, during which Marshall center fielder Lilly Nickles made a nice catch on a sinking line drive for the second out, the Lions tacked another run on the board in the bottom of the inning when McKenzie Davis drove a fastball high over the fence in center field to make the score 11-1.
After the Tigers scored a run in the top of the fourth to make it 11-2, Marshall came back up to bat in the bottom of the inning looking to keep their innings scoring streak alive. Kyla Gustafson led off the inning with a single before Caitlyn Hilliard reached base on a fielder's choice. Mollie Kent then came up to the plate, and she laced a double to right field to move Hilliard over to third base. With runners on at second and third, Lynn Welborn hit a single to bring Hilliard home with Marshall's 12th run of the game and move Kent to third.
After Lauren English walked to load the bases, McKenzie Davis drove a pitch to the fence in left field for a 2-RBI double which scored Kent and Welborn while moving English to third base. During the next pitching sequence, English scored on a passed ball to score Marshall's 14th run of the game.
Looking to close out the game in the top of the fifth inning, Kyla Gustafson induced a ground ball to third baseman Lauren English, who made a nice backhanded stop, then she spun and threw a bullet to first to get the out. Gus then struck out the next two hitters to end the game with Marshall winning by the score of 14-2.
Kyla Gustafson went 5 innings in the circle, giving up just 2 runs on 2 hits, walking 1 and striking out 13. In an encore of her debut during which Flora only had 5 outs which did not come via strikeout in Gus' last outing, Hutsonville-Palestine had just 3 outs in this game which came in ways other than via strikeout (one foul fly down the left field line that was chased down and caught by Olivia Strohm in the top of the first, the sinking liner caught by center fielder Lilly Nickles in the top of the second, and the grounder snagged by third baseman Lauren English in the top of the fifth).
At the plate, McKenzie Davis led the Lions by going 4 for 4 with a home run, double, and two singles (one of which was a perfectly placed bunt). Davis also scored 3 runs and had 3 RBI. Kyla Gustafson went 3 for 3 (double, 2 singles) with 2 RBI. Klaire York had two hits (grand slam home run, single) to go along with 5 runs batted in and a run scored. Avery Cornwell also had two hits to go along with 2 runs scored and an RBI. Lauren English drew 3 walks and scored all 3 times she got on base. Mollie Kent went 1 for 1 with a double while scoring twice, and Ella Mattas (single), Lynn Welborn (single, 2 SB's), and Caitlyn Hilliard each scored a run.
After the game, Marshall head coach Ryan McGuire said, “We are back to doing the fundamentals we have been practicing – laying down bunts, moving runners, being aggressive on the base paths. I am very happy Klaire York hit that grand slam in the first inning to put us on top, but I am just as happy two batters before, when McKenzie Davis laid down a perfect bunt for a single to load the bases up. Klaire gives us pop in the middle of our lineup, but everyone in our batting order is a threat. With Lynn Welborn and Lauren English setting the table and stealing bases, we put pressure on defenses. When everyone’s clicking, we can score in bunches like we did today and in our last game (against Georgetown-Ridge Farm).
Lauren English, Olivia Strohm, and Lilly Nickles each had nice plays on defense today. Lauren can play any position on the field, as she is what I call an 8-position player, meaning she can play anywhere I ask her to. She could even pitch if she wanted to, but she really helps us anywhere she plays in the field. Ella Mattas is our other plug and play anywhere ballplayer. She is the glue that does everything to make the team better. Kyla had another marvelous outing, striking out 13 and allowing only two runs to a team that had been averaging 10 a game.
McKenzie Davis going 4 for 4 with a homer and a double is huge for us as we play more and more games coming up. We get to see how we stand with a game at Salt Fork (Friday) and two games on Saturday in Tuscola. We will need everyone to be at their best as we move towards conference play. We have a non-conference game at Robinson and a game at Effingham next week, so those will be stern tests for us.
I am pleased we are starting to gel and starting to hit the ball after struggling to find ourselves in the first couple of games. Lilly Nickles hitting that home run in our first game was huge, as was Klaire York’s homer at Flora in our second game We will see where we are after these next few games, but I like our chances.”
The Lions (4-0) have a quick turnaround as they hit the road Friday afternoon and head to Salt Fork High School in Catlin to take on the Storm in a non-conference game scheduled to begin at 4:30 PM. On Saturday afternoon, Marshall travels to Tuscola's Ervin Park to play back-to-back games against Rantoul and Tuscola beginning at 1:30 PM to close out the week.
Kyla Gustafson struck out 13 batters and went 3 for 3 at the plate in the Lions' 14-2 win over Hutsonville-Palestine
Klaire York launches a missle over the left field fence for a grand slam in Marshall'_s 14-2 win over Hutsonville-Palestine
Caitlyn Hilliard slides safely into third base as Mollie Kent (background) races towards second
Marshall's McKenzie Davis (00) is greeted at home plate by her teammates after smashing a home run against Hut-Pal
