WHS SOFTBALL: Adrian Area beats Worthington, snaps losing streak

ELLSWORTH — Streaks were ended in the softball game between Adrian Area and Worthington Monday, as the Dragons knocked off the Trojans 4-3.

Jessi Meyer slid under the tag of Trojan catcher K.C. Riley in the bottom of the sixth to give Adrian Area (2-7) its first lead of the day and snap a four-game losing streak for the Dragons.

“It was a good effort,” AA assistant coach Judy Huisman, who was coaching for an ill Dean Schnaible, said. “They never gave up and they kept battling.

“Our bats finally hit when runners were in scoring position and defensively, we made the plays we had to. We can play with anybody if we play well and we’ve shown that with wins over (Murray County Central) and Worthington.”

Things did not start off sharply for Adrian Area, as the Dragons committed five errors in the first two leads, which led to a 3-0 Trojan lead.

After Paige Kinley (2-for-4, two stolen bases, run) reached on an error to start the game off, Adrian Area pitcher Rachel Kontz struck out the next two batters and was seemingly on her way to pitch over the fielding mistake.

Kinley took second base on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error to make it 1-0. After Jenny Majerus (1-for-3, run) singled to put runners on first and second, the Trojans (7-4) went with a double steal. Pinch runner Kari Suby took third and scored on the throw to third and Majerus was given home on the throw in from the outfield to make it 3-0 Trojans.

Rachel Kontz held the Trojans there, giving up four more hits the rest of the way. Kontz finished with five strikeouts and one walk in seven innings on the mound. Even with five errors from her defense in the first two innings, Kontz never lost faith in her team.

“I always have confidence we’re going to win and we’re going to hit and my defense is going to play behind me,” Kontz said. “It felt good to win because they are a tough team.”

Adrian Area struck in the bottom of the third. After Sam Croat (1-for-3, RBI, run) reached on an error and Kayla Lonneman doubled, Trojan pitcher Angela Robinson was able to strike out two before the error bug bit the Trojans.

A ball off the bat of Nina Weidert was bobbled at second base, which plated Croat and cut the Trojan lead to 3-1. In the bottom of the fourth, Croat drove in a run with a single and Lonneman drove in Kontz with a groundout to tie things up.

With Meyer on first base and two outs, Croat hit a grounder which was thrown into the outfield, allowing Meyer to slide in just ahead of the Riley tag.

“I just decided to make a move and go for it, since it was one of the last chances we’d get,” Meyer said. “It was a huge relief to slide in safe.

“We’ve been on a losing streak and we’d like to get a winning streak going now.”

Kontz set the Trojans down in order in the seventh, snapping a six-game winning streak for WHS.

“The errors came back to bite us again,” WHS coach Sam Baumgartner said. “Adrian kept chipping away and stuck with it. We had chances early on to get up big, but we didn’t capitalize. They hung around and anytime it gets close, it’s anybody’s game.

“They deserve to win. They played better than we did. We had a good streak going, but that’s over with. We need to get back to playing smart and get back on the right track. It’s going to be up to the girls to respond to this because we didn’t play the way we were capable of playing.”

The Trojans will host Jackson County Central Thursday and Adrian Area will take on Murray County Central today.

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WHS 300 000 0 — 3 6 3

AHS 001 201 X — 4 7 6

Daily Globe Sports Editor Chris Murphy may be reached at 376-7328.

Tags: sports, prep, softball, adrian, trojans