Softball has successful Easter vacation, winning 3 of 4

Sophomore Susie Rhodes returned from a thumb injury to power the Cardinal hitters in South Carolina.

The Cardinal Softball team traveled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, over spring break winning two of three games against teams from New York and Tennessee. The road trip allowed the squad to stay sharp over the break and sharpen their skills for the second half of WCAC play.

Monday saw the team face off against Pigeon Forge High School who traveled from Tennessee for the tournament. Meghan Sullivan and Heather Pearson led the attack, both going 3 for 4 and driving in runs. Katie Kiesner also swung a timely bat, collecting 2 RBI’s. The game featured the return of Sophomore stand out Susie Rhodes who had been sidelined for 3 weeks while recovering a broken finger. She showed no loss in power, hammering out a pair of triples and scoring 3 times. Senior Micki Crouch kept the opponent bats in check, striking out seven on the way to a 9-1 Ireton victory.

An 8 AM game on Tuesday found the Cardinals a bit slow as they were overrun by an aggressive Corning, New York team 10-0. Megan Sullivan collected the only hit of the day for the squad and the lopsided score allowed Coach Pearson to get all her players into the game including all three of her pitchers.

After some extra batting practice and some beach time, the Ireton team rebounded early Wednesday morning turning the tables on a Newark, New York team 12-1. Freshman Katie Reilly made her first start of the season as the designated hitter and scored a run. Heather Pearson and Susie Rhodes drove in 5 runs each while Micki Crouch went 3 for 4 at the plate and struck out 4. Senior Debbie Ward got to the plate 4 times and scores 4 times.

“It was a great trip for the girls,” commented Head Coach Terri Pearson. “We to see some different teams, catch some beach time and come closer together as a team.” The team returned to Alexandria with hot bats as evidenced by the 20-14 slugfest the squad participated in at St Mary’s Ryken on Monday to return to WCAC play.