(Anita) The Exira-EHK Spartan softball team is alone atop the Rolling Valley Conference standings thanks to a 3-0 win at CAM and a Boyer Valley upset of Woodbine.
Macy Emgarten allowed three hits and struck out 12 in Wednesday’s victory. She goes over 100 strikeouts for the season 4th straight season. The junior has 567 K’s in her career.
It was a scoreless ball game all the way until the 5th inning. The bottom of the order produced in a big way for Exira-EHK. They took a 1-0 lead on the following sequence: Hannah Nelson walked, pinch runner Anna Potts stole 2nd, Kate Hansen’s sac bunt moved Potts to 3rd, Potts scored on a single by #9 hitter Hailey Bieker. Bieker finished with two hits as did Nelson, who hit 7th in the order.
The visitors added single tallies in the 6th and 7th to push the final margin to 3-0. It was plenty of support for Emgarten. The lefty only allowed one runner past 2nd base in the game, which came with two outs in the 2nd, and she got a strikeout to end the threat.
Helen Riker takes the loss in the circle for CAM. She gave up seven hits. Riker walked one and struck out six. Five of the six K’s came in the first three innings, but the Spartans did a much better job at the plate as the game wore on. Mallory Behnken had two of CAM’s hits and Lilly Applegate had the other.
#11 Exira-EHK moves to 12-3. CAM falls to 7-5. The Spartans have a big game coming up with Woodbine on Friday. CAM will match up against Lenox on Thursday.
