High School Softball: Rams stumble, fall to .500

By BRANDON HURLEY

sports@beeherald.com

A rough string of games dropped the Greene County softball team to a .500 record for the first time this year, as the Rams lost two of three. 

Greene County’s (7-7) lone victory was a 4-1 home triumph over Roland-Story Friday, June 10. The Rams jumped on top early, running across two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The two squads were scoreless for the next two innings until the Norsemen put up a run in the top of the fourth to trim the Rams’ lead to a single run. Greene County was able to pad their lead once more and secure the victory with one run in the fifth and sixth innings.

Sophomore right fielder Megan Durbin was two-for-three with a double and a run scored. Winning pitcher Hannah Promos knocked in two runs in addition to tossing seven innings of five-hit ball. She allowed one earned run and struck out two. Lead-off hitter Charleigh Paup stroked a triple for her lone hit of the day. 

SOFTBALL TEAM CAN’T HOLD ON TO LEADS IN PAIR OF LOSSES 

Sandwiched around Friday’s win over Roland-Story was a loss an 11-4 loss to Solon  Thursday, June 9 and a heartbreaking 7-6 loss on the road against PCM Monday, June 13. 

Greene County lurched out to an early 2-1 lead Thursday after one inning, but allowed Solon to tie the game in the third and later take the lead with two more runs in the top of the fourth. The Rams quickly tied the game once more at four all with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the fourth. The non-conference opponents played the next two innings to a scoreless tie before Solon ran off seven runs in the top of the final inning to secure themselves the victory. 

Rams’ senior right fielder Sydney Koch was three-for-four with a double and three runs batted-in. Freshman center fielder Megan Carey also collected three hits in the loss. 

Monday’s loss to the Mustangs was back and forth throughout the six innings of play, as the game featured four ties. The Rams put a run up on the board first in the opening inning, but saw their lead quickly disappear in the bottom half of the inning. The Mustangs would take the lead in the second inning with a single run to go up 2-1 before Greene County tied it once more in the third. PCM scored a single run in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings to take a 5-3 lead entering the sixth inning. 

The Rams put together a strong rally in the top half of the final inning, scoring a trio of runs to take their first lead of the game at 6-5. But the home town Prairie City-Monroe Mustangs ran across two runs in the bottom of the sixth to walk-off with the victory.

Paup was two-for-three with two runs scored and a walk. Carey also collected two hits in the loss. Koch knocked in two runs to go with a run scored and a single. 

Sophomore Laurin Lyons and Promes each contributed an RBI as well.  

RAMS UPSET HOPES HALTED BY LIGHTNING, RAIN DELAY TUESDAY NIGHT 

Tuesday’s home matchup with top-ranked ADM was called in the bottom of the third inning due to severe weather and lightning. The Rams took the first lead of the game in the bottom of the third when Samantha Hardaway scored on an error. Not even five minutes later and the game was sent into a rain delay when a flash of lightening erupted to the west. Shortly thereafter the rain came pouring in and the game was officially called 30 minutes after the initial delay, with Greene County leading, 1-0. The contest did not count as an official game due to the teams only having played two and two-thirds innings.

Promes had pitched three innings of one-hit, no-run ball prior to the delay and was in line for the win. She pitched her way out of a jam in the top of the third. After giving up a two-out triple, Promes was able to get the next batter to ground out and end the inning. 

Paup leads the team in batting with a .500 average and 23 hits. Carey isn’t far behind in her rookie campaign, as she boasts a .480 average on 24 hits. Koch leads the team in RBI with 15 and lays claim to a .356 average. 

Promes is 5-6 this season on the mound with a 4.63 ERA and 24 strikeouts. 

The Rams next take the field Friday for a road matchup against Collins-Maxwell/Baxter. The Raiders are 11-3 on the year and are ranked 10th in Class 3A. 

First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.