Lady ‘riders railroad raiders

Steve Chapman
Copy-editor

Crowder College’s Lady ‘Riders defeated the Lady Raiders from Three Rivers Community College to gain their 21st victory this season.

In the first game, the Lady ‘Riders and the Lady Raiders seemed evenly matched, with neither team managing to score against the other in the first three innings. The Lady Riders managed to squeak ahead at the bottom of the fourth inning when infielder Andrea Drake, #9, hit a double and then was batted in after catcher Theresa Collins, #15, hit a double immediately afterwards. Collins was batted in herself when infielder/outfielder Rachel Michaelis, #7, hit another double. The Lady Raiders answered by scoring a point of their own at the top of the fifth; and the score remained locked at 2-1 the rest of the game.

The Lady ‘Riders immediately took the lead in the second game. Outfielder Payton Appleberry, #14, Drake, and Collins all managed to get on base in the first inning. Catcher Sydney Fry, #11, then hit a double that batted in Appleberry and Collins; infielder Joni Hanke, #12, batted in Collins before being tagged out.

In the second inning, infielder Courtney Folk, #18, hit a double and then was batted in by infielder/outfielder Payton Wiedner, #8, when she hit a double. Wiedner was then batted in by Drake.

In the third inning, the Lady ‘Riders went on a scoring blitz, scoring nine runs in quick succession to bring the score to a total of 15-0. The game ended after the top of the fifth inning under the run-ahead rule.

Second base player Mackenzie Pritchard, #3, credited the team’s overwhelming victory in the second game to adjustments in playing strategy.

“We made some adjustments at the plate and it really worked for us…kept us hot,” she said.

Coach John Sizemore said he hopes the Lady ‘Riders game play this week will mean respect for the team when they are ranked in conference next week.

“We pretty much have had a successful first half of the season; we’re undefeated in conference play now, we’re 10 and 0, we just got our 21st win of the season today. So hopefully we get a little bit of respect next week when rankings come out.”

The Lady ‘Riders next face Labette at home on Thursday, March 27 and then will travel to Ottumwa, IA for the Indian Hills Tournament.