Cardinals Soar Past Tartans, 22-5, edged by Mustangs, 5-4

The lady Cardinals used 19 hits to crush Holy Cross 22-5 in a slaughter rule shortened game on Wednesday. The win evens their record to 4-4
on the year. Ireton batted the entire order in both the first and second innings taking an 8-0 lead. Holy Cross came back with 4 of their own in the second off a walk, a hit batsman and a long triple. Ireton then blew the game open, scoring 6 more in the third and fourth innings.

Senior Catcher Debbie Ward went 4 for 4, including a home run, on her way to generating 3 RBI’s. Battery mate Micki Crouch went 4 innings, before yielding to sophomore Katie Milam, striking out 5 and yielding only 4 hits. Junior Emily Quinn continues to swing the hot bat, going 3 for 3 and boosting her batting average to .462.

Bishop McNamara, a 2011 WCAC finalist, proved to be a much more challenging opponent on Friday. The redbirds lost a tough game at Luckett Field
against Bishop McNamara, 5-4. The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead into the 4^th inning, but the Mustangs rallied with 4 runs in the 4^th and added another in the fifth to go ahead 5-3. The Cardinal’s waged a furious comeback but came up short.

Junior Emily Quinn got things started in the second as she legged out a long hit into a home run scoring Debbi Ward to make the score 2-0. A pair of Mustang errors allowed Katie Kiesner to score in the 3^rd bumping the lead to 3-0. With 2 outs in the 4^th inning, McNamara scored 4 runs, 3 off an error in the outfield. A double and a triple for the Mustangs added an important insurance run in the 5th inning.

Ireton came back strong with a lead off home run in the bottom half of the inning by Micki Crouch. The attack resumed in the 6^th inning with back to back
singles by Emily Quinn and Kathleen Walsh. A passed ball allowed both of them to move up, giving the Cardinals runners on second and third with no one out. All three of the next batters put the ball in play, but timely defense by the Mustangs nailed two runners at the plate and induced an easy pop up.

Micki Crouch returned to the pitching circle for the 7^thinning and stranded a pair of runners on her way to striking out her 12th batter of the day. The Ireton attack resumed in the bottom of the 7^th. With the meat of the order up with one out, Heather Pearson singled and worked her way over to 3^rd base on a
Debbie Ward fielder’s choice and a passed ball. After scorching a line drive just foul, Megan Sullivan flied out to center field to end the game.

Ireton will hope to bounce back at Good Counsel on Monday. They visit O’Connell Wednesday before departing to Myrtle Beach for a Spring Break tournament.