By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

VERSAILLES — The Lady Trojans jumped out to an early lead on the road against Versailles and kept that momentum up. Arcanum softball came away with a 12-4 win over Versailles on April 26.

Arcanum head coach Mike Morris said he was nervous about this game. He didn’t want to show his hand against Versailles with a possible tournament matchup in play.

His team came out and played with high energy.

“We’re starting to roll, eight in a row now. In the eight games we won, we’ve given up seven runs now. That’s it. We’re putting up a lot of runs,” Morris said.

Versailles head coach Tatyana Cotrell said she knew the Arcanum bats would give them trouble, but she wanted to see her team fight back a little more.

“They’re a great hitting team, I know that. But, my girls have to be able to come back and fire back at them,” Cotrell said.

Junior Kenzie Byrne drove in the games first run for Arcanum with a RBI single. Freshman Jordyn Garbig then added on two more runs with a two-run single to go up 3-0.

Versailles senior Cassie Leach drove in a run in the bottom of the first to make it a 3-1 game early.

With one swing of the bat, Arcanum scored four more runs in the second inning. Byrne hit a grand slam deep to left field.

Arcanum scored one more run in the third inning on a RBI single by junior Marli Morris. Versailles responded with a solo shot by senior Lauryn Cordonnier to lead off the bottom of the third.

Senior Emilie Fout kept the offense rolling in the fourth inning with a two-run double. A RBI double by freshman Cam Garbig gave the Lady Trojans an 11-2 lead.

After a scoreless inning in the fifth, Fout stepped up in the sixth inning and hit a solo home run. Morris said the lineup is sprinkled with power hitters. They have players that can get on base between the power hitters to set them up for RBI opportunities.

Freshman Cam Garbig got the start for Arcanum and was keeping the Versailles bats off balanced. She was able to force ground balls and not let the Lady Tigers get comfortable at the plate. Morris said she’s a talented pitcher and people are taking notice of her abilities.

“Cam came in, a freshman, and pitched really well. The umpire said that she’s been the best pitcher he’s seen all year. He’s seen Minster and a lot of good schools,” Morris said.

Versailles scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth to give them a better shot at coming back into the game. Senior Carley Timmerman hit a RBI single and senior Colleen Hiestand hit a sacrifice groundout.

Garbig and the Arcanum defense stayed locked in as they got the final outs in the seventh inning to secure the win.

Garbig finished with four strikeouts on the day. Sophomore Brooke Bergman pitched four innings for Versailles and had a strikeout.

Versailles is 12-6 on the season with an 0-3 MAC record. They have a slew of MAC games coming up as they prepare for the tournament. Cotrell said she wants to see her team finish out the season strong and give it their all when the tournament comes around.

“We need to come out ready to win. Hopefully going into this next week with all MAC games, we come out ready to fire,” Cotrell said.

Arcanum is 13-7 with an 8-1 WOAC record. Morris said he hopes someone can knock off Tri-Village so they can have a chance to grab a share of the WOAC title. But despite the hot streak, he is focused on seeing his team improve and get better for the tournament.

“We want to keep improving. We want to keep the hot bats going. Defensively, we’re playing really well. Pitching, we’ve been throwing really well. We’ve maybe three walks in eight games. We’re throwing strikes, we’re playing defense and hopefully the hitting keeps going and we keep getting better,” Morris said.

Tournament draw for softball is on April 28. Versailles will be at New Bremen on April 29 for a 5 p.m. first pitch. Arcanum will be at Russia on April 29 for a 5 p.m. first pitch.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].