Kaskaskia ends Logan softball season

BY JOHN D. HOMAN

CENTRALIA – The John A. Logan College softball season came to an abrupt end Friday as Kaskaskia swept the Volunteers, 6-1 and 1-0, in quarterfinal round play of the Region 24 tournament.

Logan finishes the spring 18-21 and had nine conference games cancelled due to inclement weather. On Friday, the Vols simply couldn’t hit either of the Blue Angels’ pitchers, Jordan Lodge or Brianna Anderson.

Lodge checked the Vols on five hits in the opener, while striking out nine. Freshman third baseman Kelsey Rogers had a pair of doubles to pace the offense. Briah Winchester, Kaylyn Winders and Amanda Evinger had the other hits.

Logan’s only run in Game 1 came in the sixth inning when Rogers doubled, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a groundout to second off the bat of Jen Bailey. It was the freshman, Bailey, who took the loss. She allowed six runs (five earned) on 10 hits. Six of those hits, however, never made it out of the infield. She struck out eight and walked two.

In Game 2, the Vols were completely out of sorts at the plate, managing just one hit – a fourth-inning single by Bailey. Anderson struck out nine Logan batters.

Tough-luck loser, sophomore Jolyn Lake, deserved a better fate. She gave up the one run on five hits, struck out two and walked one.

“We had some opportunities,” said Vols head coach Bruce Jilek. “We had some hitters up with runners in scoring position and couldn’t come up with the big hit. Defensively, we bobbled the ball three or four times in that first game, which led to some runs for Kaskaskia. They’re a good ballclub. They have speed, power and good pitching. It wouldn’t surprise me if they worked themselves into the national tournament.”