St. Anthony Claims City Softball Series With Two Wins

St. Anthony claimed the City Softball Series this year.

Effingham St. Anthony won the City Softball Series with two victories over Effingham Thursday.

 The City Series was to open play Wednesday but rains pushed the first game to Thursday for a doubleheader.

In the opener, the Bulldogs edged the Hearts 5-4. Effingham took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. With two outs, Sidney Donaldson singled and Natalie Armstrong drew a walk. The two runners then stole two bases with Donaldson coming home on the second steal. Armstrong was left stranded at third.

The Hearts moved into a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth. With one out, Madi Kirk drew a walk and Alyssa Martin followed with a single. With two outs, Raegan Boone singled and Kirk scored.

St. Anthony pulled withn 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth as Abby Hatton hit a solo home run.

Effingham pulled ahead 4-1 in the fifth. Armstrong walked and Mya Harvey hit a home run.

But, here came the Bulldogs. In the bottom of the fifth, Stacie Vonderheide singled and took second on an error. She came home on a double by Lily Gannaway with two outs and the Bulldogs were within 4-2.

St. Anthony continued its run with two more tallies in the sixth. Hailey Niebrugge led off with a single but was out on a fielder's choice hit by Hatton. Sidney Kibler followed with a single but was thrown out. Maddie Kibler reached on a fielder's choice and Vonderheide followed with a double that drove in both runners and St. Anthony tied the score at 4-4.

Then in the bottom of the seventh, St. Anthony's Julia Schultz led off wth a double and came home with the winning run on a walkoff single by Addy Wernsing.

Wernsing also was the winning pitcher. She came on in relief of S. Kibler in the sixth and allowed one hit and struck out one.

In the second contest, St. Anthony trailed Effingham 6-3 until the fourth inning and then it was goodbye as the Bulldogs ended this game 17-7 via the 10-run rule in the sixth.

St. Anthony took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first as Hatton doubled and came home on a single by S. Kibler.

Effingham's Boone led off the first for the Hearts with a walk and Jerzi Bierman followed with a single. With two outs, Harvey hit a single that scored both runners and the Hearts led 2-1.

St. Anthony moved ahead 3-2 in the top of the second as Laney Coffin singled and Gannaway hit a home run.

But the Hearts came back with four in the bottom of the second to lead 6-3. With one out, Saige Althoff singled. With two out, Boone hit a double that scored Althoff. Bierman then followed with a two-run shot and the Hearts held a 5-3 lead. The final run came as Donaldson reached on an error and Armstrong followed with a single that scored Donaldson.

But St. Anthony went on a fourth inning tear, scoring six runs to lead 9-6. Schultz singled to start the frame. Gannaway followed with a double. With one out, Niebrugge hit a home run. With two outs, S. Kibler singled and M. Kibler followed with a home run. Vonderheide then hit a solo shot to end the frame.

St. Anthony tacked on another run in the fifth as Schultz doubled and came home on a sacrifice fly by Wernsing.

The Hearts tallied a final run in the fifth. Donaldson reached on an error but a double play ended that threat. Harvey then followed with a single and Ryley Engel singled. Martin then singled Harvey home.

The Bulldogs tallied seven more runs in the sixth to end the contest via the 10-run rule. M. Kibler homered to start the frame for her second long shot of the game. Vonderheide, Coffin and Schultz had back-to-back-to-back singles. With one out, Wernsing doubled to bring two runs home and Niebrugge followed with a single that also scored two runs. Hatton reached on an error and came home for the final run of the game for the Bulldogs.

St. Anthony banged out 23 hits in the contest while Effingham had 11. S. Kibler came on in relief of Wernsing in the third and went four innings allowing one run on four hits,and striking out one.

The lone Effingham senior Raegen Boone was recognized Thursday. The St. Anthony seniors will be honored at today's game.

The final game will be contested today at 4 p.m. Listen on KJ Country 102.3

At Effingham

Game One

Effingham                  100    120    0    --    4-7-1

St. Anthony                000    112    1    --    5-9-0

WP -- Wernsing. LP -- Althoff.

Effingham -- Boone, single, 1 RBI; Bierman, single; Donaldson, 2 singles; Armstrong, single; Harvey, home run, 2 RBI; Martin, single

St. Anthony -- Wernsing, single, 1 RBI; Niebrugge, 2 singles; Hatton, home run, 1 RBI; S. Kibler, single; Vonderheide, single, double, 2 RBI; Schultz, double; Gannaway, double, 1 RBI

Game Two

St. Anthony                 120    617    --    17-23-1

Effingham                   240    010    --      7-11-2

WP -- S. Kibler. LP -- Armstrong.

St. Anthony -- Wernsing, single, double, 3 RBI; Niebrugge, 2 singles, home run, 5 RBI; Hatton, double; S. Kibler, 2 singles, 1 RBI; M. Kibler, single, double, 2 home runs, 4 RBI; Vonderheide, single, double, home run, 1 RBI; Coffin, 2 singles; Schultz, 2 singles, double; Gannaway, 2 singles, double, home run, 2 RBI

Effingham -- Boone, single, double, 1 RBI; Bierman, single, home run, 2 RBI; Donaldson, single; Armstrong, single, 1 RBI; Harvey, 2 singles, 2 RBI; Engel, single; Martin, single, 1 RBI; Althoff, single