HUMBOLDT — If there’s such a thing as a mulligan in softball, Humboldt High might have asked for one Thursday.
The first six Erie batters of the game inexplicably reached base, courtesy of two singles, a double and two walks. Tack on a passed ball, the Lady Cubs found themselves in a 4-0 hole after half an inning.
But things settled down nicely from there.
Humboldt promptly tied the score in the bottom of the inning and took the lead for good with three more in the second.
Brooklyn Ellis, meanwhile, found her groove, retiring the final 19 Red Devil batters she faced, allowing only a two-out walk in the sixth, en route to a 13-4 Humboldt victory.
Shelby Shaughnessy took the baton from there, throwing a four-inning no-hitter against Erie in the nightcap, a 15-0 Lady Cub romp.
“We had a shaky start, but we finally got warmed up and got things going,” Cub head coach Brad Piley said. “We made some great defensive plays on hard-hit balls.”
Humboldt wasted little time in responding to its early deficit in the opener.
Kirstyn Murrow led off with a single, moved to second and third on walks to Karley Wools and Ellis, and then stole home after a pitch got away from the Erie catchers. Shaughnessy’s subsequent double drove in Wools to make it 4-2.
A passed ball allowed Anna Heisler to scamper home before Rylan Covey evened the score on a sacrifice fly.
The beat continued in the second. Murrow doubled and scored on a Wools single. Carsyn Haviland’s single made it 6-4 before Heisler stole home for another.
Back-to-back doubles by Shaughnessy and Haviland kick-started a fourth-inning, five-run rally. Cheyenne Wrestler and Covey followed with RBI singles before Wools smacked a two-out, two-run single.
Haviland singled to lead off the fifth, stole second and came around to score on Westler’s RBI grounder.
Ellis wound up striking out six in her complete-game victory.
Murrow went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two stolen bases.Haviland had three hits, including a double, while stealing four bases. Shaughnessy doubled twice, Covey had two singles and Wrestler had a hit.
The Lady Cubs took control in the second game by scoring four runs without benefit of a hit in the bottom of the first. Three straight walks, a wild pitch and a passed ball allowed all three runners to score. A dropped third strike allowed Haviland to reach base. She promptly stole second, moved to third on an error and scored on a passed ball.
Five straight walks to start the second inning and a Shaughnessy single — Humboldt’s first of the game — and an RBI grounder made it 7-0. Wrestler followed with a two-run single to make it 9-0.
