East Prairie edges Sikeston

Sikeston bserunner Courney Collins is tagged out by East Prairie shortstop Madelyn Branam

SIKESTON -- On Wednesday afternoon, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs softball team suffered a slim 4-3 defeat to the East Prairie Lady Eagles at the Sikeston Sports Complex.

"This win was a big win for us," East Prairie head coach Steve Stokes said. "We squeaked it out. It evened our record at .500 on the season, 3-3."

East Prairie jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the

first inning from Brittany Grigsby and Lydia Cartwright, who both reached on errors.

Sikeston's lone highlight of the first frame came from the arm of center fielder Kaitlyn Turnbow, who gunned down East Prairie's Mallory LaPlant at the plate.

Sikeston catcher Mary Deason tags out East Prairie baserunner Mallory LaPlant.

But the Lady Eagles added another run in the third inning, to pull ahead 3-0. Rachel White was credited with the RBI on a sacrifice bunt that scored Cartwright.

The Lady Bulldogs, who were held scoreless through the first four innings, were unable to string together hits, SHS left three runners on base during that span.

"We just weren't aggressive enough in the first few innings," Sikeston head coach Tiffany King said. "Our errors just killed us, and our attitude did as well. We just didn't have our attitudes up at the start of the game."

Sikeston came back fighting back in the fifth inning, tying the game at 3. Mara Krokstrom got the frame started with a single, and was moved to second on Nicki James' sacrifice bunt. Courtney Collins reached on an error after she attempted a sacrifice bunt of her own, scoring Krokstrom on the play.

Then, Kayla Scherer and Sarah Hopson both singled, and later scored on Mary Deason's two-run single up the middle.

Sikeston pitcher Sarah Hopson delivers the ball.

Turnbow hit a screaming ground ball down the line that was picked off by the East Prairie third baseman, who ended Sikeston's threat.

East Prairie fed off of two more Sikeston errors in the sixth inning, scoring the go-ahead run, that proved in the end to be the game-winner.

"This is our first game in about a week, so it was good to get back on the field," Stokes said. "Tiffany (King) has improved that team a lot this season. They've got a good ballclub, and they'll be good in the future."

Despite the compliments to the squad, King said that the outlook on the games has got to improve for the Lady Bulldogs to be successful on the field.

"We've got to raise our confidence level a lot," King said. "The attitudes and confidence level go hand-in-hand in winning ballgames."

Sikeston's Sarah Hopson, who took the pitching loss, was only responsible for one of the four East Prairie runs that crossed the plate. She gave up only two hits, had two strikeouts and seven walks.

The Lady Bulldogs were led at the plate by Emily Martin, who was 2-for-3, with two singles and a walk. Scherer, Hopson and Krokstrom each had one single and one run scored apiece. Deason added a single and two RBIs.

"Emily (Martin) is turning it on right now," King said. "She's seeing the ball well, and is getting to every ball hit her way at third base."

On East Prairie's side of the box score, its two hits came off the bats of LaPlant and Adalyn Woodard. Grigsby and Peters scored one run apiece and Cartwright added two runs scored.

Woodard took the win, allowing three runs, on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Both teams are at home at 4 p.m. today. East Prairie hosts Kelly, while Sikeston hosts Twin Rivers.