The Marshall High School softball team returned to conference play by hosting the Paris High School Tigers at the Marshall softball diamond on Thursday, April 16th in front of a large crowd surrounding the field. Marshall came into the contest with a record of 12-1 and 1-0 in the LIC, while Paris came in with a record of 11-4 and 1-0 in conference play.
The Lions sent junior pitcher Kyla Gustafson into the circle against the Tigers, and if you were to describe her performance in a couple words, Gus was simply unhittable. With her entire pitching repertoire working the strike zone, all 15 Paris outs in the five-inning game were made by strikeout. Gustafson pitched five innings of no-hit ball, allowing 2 walks while striking out 15.
The Lions offense put pressure on Paris beginning in the bottom of the first inning as Lynn Welborn, Lauren English, and McKenzie Davis all singled to load up the bases with no outs for cleanup hitter Klaire York. York promptly cleared the bases with a double to the fence in right field, and after Dais made a nice move to avoid the tag and score at home plate, Marshall quickly led 3-0. Marshall kept the pressure on by scoring in each of the five innings to win 10-0 via the run rule.
In the bottom of the second, Caitlyn Hilliard led off the inning with a double down the line in right field. Lilly Nickles came up to the plate and advanced Hilliard to third base, then Lynn Welborn hit a double to right field which scored Hilliard with Marshall’s fourth run of the game. In the bottom of the third, Klaire York led off and smashed a bomb over the fence, over the street, and into the subdivision on the other side of North 7th Street. York’s homer made the score 5-0 in Marshall’s favor.
In Marshall’s half of the fourth inning, the Lions scored four runs to open up a 9-0 lead. After Lynn Welborn doubled and McKenzie Davis drew a base on balls, Klaire York laced a double down the line in left field to score both Welborn and Davis. Later in the inning, Ella Mattas launched a long drive over the fence in left field for a 2-run homer, scoring York in the process.
With Kyla Gustafson striking out every Paris batter she faced, Marshall came up to bat in the bottom of the fifth needing one run to end the game, and they completed the objective without recording an out. Caitlyn Hilliard led off the inning by driving a single up the middle before she was replaced on the base path by Olivia Strohm. After Strohm advanced to second on a wild pitch, Lilly Nickles had a solid at-bat before drawing a walk to put runners on at first and second. Lynn Welborn came up next and laced a single to left field to score Strohm with Marshall’s 10th run of the game, ending the contest with the Lions winning by the score of 10-0 to improve to 13-1 on the season and 2-0 in the Little Illini Conference. Paris drops to 11-5 on the season and 1-1 in conference play.
After the game, Marshall head coach Ryan McGuire said, “Our team was ready for Paris today. When they saw Paris defeated previously unbeaten Mount Carmel in their first conference game earlier in the week, it got our players’ attention. Klaire York had a great game, both behind the plate and at the plate. Home run, 2 doubles, 6 RBI’s – she was extremely motivated in this ballgame. Kyla had everything working for her today while not allowing a hit. I was very happy Ella Mattas connected on a homer since she had been pressing at the plate. Hopefully this propels her into hitting like she did last year. She gives us another dangerous bat. Our whole lineup is capable of getting hot, and we would like to be peaking come tournament time.”
Marshall plays their next game Monday, April 20th when they travel to Newton for a conference game set to begin at 4:30 PM. On Wednesday, April 22nd, Marshall travels to Oblong for a non-conference tilt at 4:30 PM, then on Thursday the 23rd, the Lions host Lawrenceville in another conference game at the Marshall softball diamond with a starting time of 4:30 PM.
Klaire York led the Lions with a home run and 2 doubles, driving in 6 runs during the big 10-0 win over Paris
Klaire York sends this pitch into the sub-division across the street for a home run during Marshall's 10-0 win over Paris
Lynn Welborn had 3 hits (2 doubles) while scoring twice and driving in 2
Lynn Welborn had 3 hits (2 doubles) while scoring twice and driving in 2
