Cougars Softball sweeps doubleheader with Danville Area
Alex Staab – ICC Harbinger
East Peoria, IL – It was a cool fall night for softball Wednesday night at the CougarPlex as the Illinois Central College Cougars played the Danville Area Jaguars in the final home softball game of the fall season.
The Cougars got going quickly in the first game, when Megan Adams (Fr. – Moline) launched a home run off the top portion of the scoreboard in left field, putting ICC up 1-0.
Just a few batters later, Lou McWhirter (Fr. – East Peoria) reached on an error, scoring Sam McKee (Fr. – Eureka) and giving the Cougars the 2-0 lead over the visiting Jaguars.
McWhirter was involved in yet another scoring play in the fifth when she scored on an RBI single by Sam Garcia (Fr. – Washington). At that point, the Cougars seemed to be on quite a roll, up 3-1.
It was Garcia’s turn again in the sixth frame when she doubled on a line drive to left field, scoring Katie David (Fr. – Illini Bluffs). A two-run single by Shelby Terrell (So. – Limestone) scored McWhirter and Garcia and put the Cougars up 6-1.
It took just a Lexy Trammell (Fr. – Limestone) hit by pitch for the Cougars to put up another run, when Adams got her third hit of game one and set the final score of 7-1 ICC. The Freshman finished with 3 hits, which turns out, that number would become relevant again in game two.
ICC found a way to get going even quicker than they had in the opening game, scoring two runs on an RBI double by Trammell scored both Garcia and Terrell to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead in the first inning. That was followed shortly afterwards by an RBI single for David, scoring two, and giving ICC a commanding 4-0 lead. The Cougars weren’t anywhere close to being done yet. For the first game, the big bat came from Megan Adams. In game two, it was McKinsey Walters (So. – Geneseo) who proved to be key, lacing her first of three hits into center field. That was followed by an RBI double by Allison Pillman (So. – Brimfield), scoring Walters and giving the Cougars a dominant 5-0 lead after just one inning of play.
The Cougars got their first home run of game two (second of the day) when Trammell crushed one over the center field fence, just missing the flag pole at the CougarPlex, and putting ICC up 6-0 after two innings.
Walters continued her string of hits when she singled in the third for her second hit. David had also singled just prior and put two on with no outs. The Cougars were bound to score somehow, and that’s when Garcia hit a grounder and reached on an error by the Danville Area first baseman, scoring Kayla Ford (So. – Washington), who was running for Walters, and putting the Cougars up 7-0.
In the fourth inning, Adams hit a single and Terrell scored on a wild pitch to set the already big Cougars lead at 8-0.
Walters solidified a great game by getting a single for her third hit of the night, this one an RBI, scoring Adams and setting the final score of 9-0.
After the games, ICC Head Coach Heather Doty was pleased with the team’s effort.
“Pitchers hit their spot, we executed offensively and defensively. All the little things we had been working on in practice were executed tonight.”
Coach Doty also acknowledged the great offensive performances by McKinsey Walters and Megan Adams, simply saying that “they were both seeing the ball very well.”
The Cougars travel to West Burlington, Iowa on Saturday to take on the NJCAA Division I Blackhawks from Southeastern Iowa Community College in a doubleheader, with first pitches scheduled for Noon and 2:00 pm.
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