Softball squad splits doubleheader

By Michael Leek
Sports Editor

The LCC softball team had two similar performances with very different results on the road against the Davenport JV team on Monday, April 15.

In the first game LCC lost 4-3 when it gave up a late run on a base hit that took a bad hop.

The second game had a similar beginning for the Stars. They went down 2-0 before scoring at all. When LCC did finally score, they scored 12 in the fifth inning, forcing a mercy rule and ending the game with a 12-2 win.

These games moved the Stars record to 24-14 on the season. LCC earned votes for an honorable mention in the national rankings.

LCC Head Coach Marc Kibby said the similar games but different results were because of the team’s lack of consistency.

“We need consistency of swinging the bats,” Kibby said. “We win a lot of games big when we come out aggressive and score a lot of runs, and then there’s times like (Monday) in those close 4-3 games when we don’t swing the bats as well as we can.”

Freshman pitcher Kyra Shadduck was on the mound the whole first game for the Stars and racked up six strikeouts while allowing seven hits.

Offensively Shadduck hit well, going two for three. LCC freshman infielder Isabelle Robinson brought in the only RBI for LCC in the first game and the team recorded nine hits altogether.

In the second game sophomore pitcher Kelsey Merillat was on the mound for all five innings for the Stars and gave up nine hits while striking out two batters.

Despite winning the second game by 10 runs, the Stars only recorded one more hit than they did in the first game with 10.

Freshman Malea Gardner scored two runs for LCC and went 2-4 at the plate. Sophomore Madison Travis brought in two RBIs, as did freshman infielder Abby Fitchner.

Kibby said the team will need to work on starting games strong and taking other teams out of games.

“We have to be ready to play,” Kibby said. “We can’t have slow starts that puts pressure on (our team) and just coming out with more firepower early.”

The Stars have a small break in action with their next matchup being on Friday, April 19 against Kalamazoo Valley Community College on the road.

This will be the second time LCC matches up against Kalamazoo Valley after winning both games at home on March 30.