A pair of sterling pitching performances Thursday, accentuated by several key hits, gave Allen Community College’s softball team a doubleheader sweep.
The Red Devils broke a 4-4 tie with Paxton Meyer’s solo home run to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning,
Allen catcher Ashley Tribble then threw out the potential tying run at third base in the top of the seventh as ACC knocked off visiting Independence, 5-4.
The Red Devils’ Abby Marsh picked up the baton from there, shutting down the Pirate bats on six hits in a 6-3 victory.
The sweep is the first for Allen since the Red Devils (11-17) went a combined 4-0 on doubleheaders Feb. 18 and 19 against Seward County and Southeast.
Thursday’s opener was a back-and-forth affair that saw Indy take an early 1-0 lead before Allen scored two in the second to lead 3-1. But Indy answered with two in the third to tie the score and then plated a run in the top of the fifth to inch ahead, 4-3.
Allen’s Brooklyn Goehring, who went a combined 7-for-7 on the day to lift her average to .438, started the bottom of the fifth with a single. She promptly stole second and moved up to third on Hayley Gerberding’s sacrifice bunt. Morgan Collins lined a single to center to knot the score at 4-4 to set the stage for Paxton’s first home run of the season an inning later.
Red Devil pitcher Camryn Yardley went the distance, scattering seven hits while striking out nine and allowing two earned runs.
Goehring and Gerberding got ACC off on the right foot early on, opening the first inning with back-to-back singles. Goehring came in to score on a passed ball.
Norah Parker singled to start a two-out rally in ACC’s second inning. Kylar Smith reached on an error, before Goehring tripled both home for a 3-1 lead.
Goehring wound up with a triple and two singles to pace the offense. Meyer’s home run was her only hit of the day. Collins singled twice. Parker also had a single.
ALLEN spotted Independence an early 1-0 lead in the second game. Madisyn Havenstein’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the second tied the score before Calyn Michaelis doubled with two outs and scored on an error.
Tribble and Michaelis opened the fourth inning with singles before Gerberding moved them into scoring position with another sacrifice bunt, setting the stage for Goehring’s RBI single. Bailee Campbell drove in the next run with an RBI grounder before Collins capped the scoring with an infield smash that turned into a fielding error for the Pirates, allowing Goehring to score.
The Pirates scored twice and still had runners on first and second with one out in the sixth before a key double play ended the threat. Campbell fielded a ground ball and threw to first for the second out, before Havenstein gunned down a runner attempting to make it to third.
The Red Devils scored a final time keyed by — who else? — Goehring, who singled with two outs and scored on a fielding error on the next play.
