The Washington Lady Blue Lion varsity softball team began the 2021 Sectional tournament with a home game against Marietta Saturday morning, May 8 at Washington High School.
Marietta jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning.
However, Washington exploded for 13 runs in the bottom of the third and went on to defeat the Lady Tigers, 14-3 in five innings.
That set up a third game on the season with Frontier Athletic Conference opponent Hillsboro Monday evening, May 10.
On Saturday, senior Kearria Marcum had perhaps the biggest offensive output of her career, as she hit a grand slam home run and a two-run double, both in the third inning, driving in six runs.
Washington sent 17 batters to the plate in the third inning, collecting 12 hits and scoring 13 times.
Makenna Knisley was the winning pitcher for Washington. She pitched five innings with four hits and three runs (none earned) with nine strikeouts and two walks.
Tucker started and took the loss for Marietta. She pitched four innings with 18 hits and 14 runs (all earned) with three strikeouts and two walks.
Marietta sent seven batters to the plate in the top of the first, with three hits and three runs.
The score remained 3-0 until Washington batted in the bottom of the third.
Brooklyn Foose led off the inning with a single. She stole second and scored on a double by Makenna Knisley.
Mallori Tucker went in to run for Knisley and Meredith Pabst hit a single, moving Tucker to third.
Lilly Shaw went in to run for Pabst and Corynn Chrisman singled, scoring Tucker.
Addison Knisley walked to load the bases and Tristan Hammock singled, scoring Shaw to tie the game, 3-3.
At this point, Kearria Marcum stepped to the plate. She hit a hit fly ball down the left field line. The ball hit the foul pole above the fence indicating it was a fair ball, good for a grand slam home run and a 7-3 Washington lead.
Emma Funari walked and Kassidy Olsson singled.
Foose bunted for a single to load the bases.
Makenna Knisley singled to left, scoring Funari for an 8-3 lead.
Pabst then singled to right field, scoring Olsson and Foose to give Washington a 10-3 lead.
It was 13 batters into the inning before Washington made its first out.
Addison Knisley followed with a single that scored Tucker. Pabst, who had stolen second, moved to third on the play.
Knisley stole second before the second out was recorded.
Marcum then hit a double to left field, scoring Pabst and Knisley to make it 13-3.
The next batter grounded out to end what may have been Washington’s biggest inning of the season.
The Lady Lions tacked on one more run in the bottom of the fourth.
With the first two batters retired, Makenna Knisley hit a double to left field.
Tucker ran for Knisley and Pabst singled. Tucker scored on the play and Pabst was out advancing to second.
Marietta had a walk and their fourth single of the game in the top of the fifth, but those runners were stranded. The Lady Tigers left three runners on base during the game.
“I told the players and the staff that, I think one of the things they put on the OHSAA (Ohio High School Athletic Association) web site is when a player has more than four RBI in one inning,” Washington head coach Rick Foose said. “Kearria was huge in scoring those 13 runs. She (drove in) almost half of our runs in that inning.
“This was a good win for our seniors,” Foose said.
“Makenna had nine strikeouts today,” Foose said. “Any time you can have nine strikeouts, that limits the amount your defense has to do. She made it a lot easier for our defense to get the job done.
“We’ve got a lot of camaraderie in our dugout,” Foose said. “The girls have worked hard and it’s paying off for our team.”
“That wasn’t the first home run of my career, but it was the first home run of my senior season,” Kearria Marcum said. “I’d have to say that felt amazing. All the times I’ve gotten in (a game), I’ve been in my head way too much.
“Coming out here today and hitting that one and having six RBI is amazing,” Marcum said.
The win over Marietta gave Washington a record of 8-17.
Pabst had four hits, Foose and Makenna Knisley both had three hits; Addison Knisley, Marcum and Tristan Hammock each had two hits and Kassidy Olsson and Corynn Chrisman each had one hit.
The Lady Lions visited Hillsboro Monday and lost a Sectional semifinal game, 14-4 in five innings.
Please see a future edition of the Record-Herald for a report on that game.
Offensively for Washington: Kassidy Olsson, 1-4, 1 run; Brooklyn Foose, 3-4, 2 runs, 1 sb; Makenna Knisley, 3-4, 2 RBI, 2 2b, fc; Corynn Chrisman, 1-3, 1 run, 1 RBI; Addison Knisley, 2-2, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 1 bb; Tristan Hammock, 2-3, 1 run, 1 RBI; Kearria Marcum, 2-3, 1 run, 6 RBI, 1 2b, 1 grand slam home run; Emma Funari, 0-2, 1 run, 1 bb; Lilly Shaw, 0-0, 1 sb, 1 run; Mallori Tucker, 0-0, 3 runs. LOB: 5.
RHE
M 300 00x x — 3 4 0
W 00(13) 1xx x — 14 18 2
