PIKE CREEK – For four and a half innings on May 4, Glasgow and Ursuline were neck and neck in their softball game at the Midway Softball Complex. But the Raiders put the game away in the bottom of the fifth, scoring 10 runs to capture a 20-10 victory.
Ursuline had leads of 8-2 and 10-8, but the Dragons were able to tie the game each time. The Raiders – who have six freshman, three sophomores and two juniors on the roster – made sure there would be no opportunity for another comeback, ending the game early.
The decisive bottom half of the fifth inning began with a single by Maddie Mayer. She stole two bases, and after a strikeout, scored on a single by Gianna Hornberger (St. Elizabeth Parish). Another base hit later, Eva Maguire hit a short fly that landed on the chalk in left. Maguire followed both runners around the bases for a three-run home run that put Ursuline on top, 14-10.
The Raiders’ offense kept going. They scored two more runs and had runners at second and third when Anna Mieczkowski (St. Mary Magdalen Parish) came to bat. She drove a ball to deep left field and circled the bases for the team’s second three-run homer of the inning. Hornberger, batting for the second time in the inning, tripled, and she scored on a single by Ava George, ending the game.
The Raiders built up their early 8-2 lead with lots of small ball – walks and singles, stolen bases – but scored two runs in the second on a triple by Maguire, who scored on a throwing error. They led, 8-2, after two, but Glasgow scored twice in the third, then four in the fourth to tie the game. After Ursuline retook the lead with two runs in the fourth, the Dragons answered in the top of the fifth, tying the game on a single to left by Brooke Rein.
Hornberger went the distance in the circle for the Raiders, striking out nine. Ursuline (5-8) host Newark Charter on Thursday at 4:15 p.m. at Midway.
Glasgow pitcher Chloe Kell struck out six. The Dragons (2-8) are home against Concord on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
Photos by Mike Lang.
