Game of the Week: Monticello at Clinton (SB)

Although Maroa-Forsyth is only six miles to the south, an argument could be made that the Monticello Sages, and not the Lady Trojans, are the Clinton Lady Maroons’ chief Okaw Valley rival.

Senior and Junior Lady Maroon players remember well how the 2008 and 2009 seasons came to an end.

In 2008, the Lady Maroons were three outs away from winning the regional championship and advancing to the sectional for the first time in four years.

Ace Shelbi Rentmeister was on the mound and Clinton had a one-run lead in the top of the seventh. But Shelbi injured herself in the previous inning and the Sages scored two runs before the Lady Maroons could record an out. Clinton couldn’t get anything going and Monticello celebrated their regional championship on Clinton’s turf.

The two teams met the following year in Monticello for the regional semifinal. The Maroons and Sages may have been the two best teams in the Okaw that year, but it was the Sages walking away with an 11-1 five-inning victory in Rentmeister’s final high school start.

The Lady Maroons look to enact a measure of revenge Thursday night when the Sages invade Clinton.

Perhaps the best Clinton softball moment of the Emily Starkey era came in 2003 when the Sages boasted a 30-0 record before falling to Clinton at home in the final Okaw Valley Championship Game ever played.

These two teams have history. And the next chapter will be written Thursday.

Perfect no more: Heyworth stings Maroa

HEYWORTH - The sixteenth game of the season has not been kind to Phil Applebee and the Maroa-Forsyth Lady Trojans softball team the past two seasons. After losing to Williamsville in Game 16 last year, the team repeated history in 2010. The Lady Trojans (15-1) lost their first game of the season, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Heyworth Hornets Tuesday afternoon. 

Maroa-Forsyth kicked off the scoring in the top of the first when Kayti Lundin scored on a Kim Lamar triple. Heyworth answered with one in the first and used three timely hits in the second to take a 4-1 advantage.

Despite trailing by three, Lady Trojan fans that made the trip up Route 51 were just waiting for the bats to click. The team had recently put up a pair of 10+ run games and had come back from three three-run deficits already this season. 

It looked like the comeback was underway when Taylor Coit doubled, stole third and scored on a Rachel Hastings flyout in the top of the third. But two stranded runners in the fourth and fifth innings prevented such a comeback from mounting itself. 

Rachel England scored the Lady Trojans' final run in the top of the sixth on a Breanna Livingood RBI double. 

Coit took the loss on the mound, pitching for Kayti Lundin, who took a day off from the field. 

Maroa-Forsyth returns to Okaw Conference play with a home game against Monticello today. 

Photo: Taylor Coit scores Maroa's second run Tuesday in a 5-3 loss to the Heyworth Hornets. 

Two five-run innings give Clinton win

CLINTON - The Clinton Lady Maroons looked the best they had all year Thursday night in their conference opening 12-2 win over Central A&M at the Clinton softball field. 

It didn't hurt that Central A&M had a hard time in the field. 

Lacey Lord had two two-run RBI doubles, one in each of the first two innings. Both times, Alicia Mitchell and Emily Kroeger scored on the hits. It looked like Clinton could have put 30 on the board in the first two innings. Instead, they settled for five in each frame to give them a 10-1 lead.

Bailey Walker did well on the mound, striking out two and earning the win in six innings pitched. She will b e called upon a lot this season since head coach Emily Starkey decided that it was in the team's best interest to keep All-State second baseman Meghan Matthews at her strongest position. Sharing the pitching load with Walker this year will be fellow-freshman Jessie Shride. 

For a conference opener, Tuesday was all Starkey could ask for.

"The team did an amazing job in their first conference game," Starkey said. "I was really pleased with the way they came out and hit the ball. We had a few errors defensively, but overall we played well in the field too."

Mitchell has been a great addition to the team this year, especially  helping out on the basepaths. The Maroons' final run in the win was all her. She reached base on a strikeout-error, then stole second and third, and came home on a passed ball, one of many Red Raider miscues on the day. 

The Lady Maroons will visit Decatur MacArthur for a Saturday nonconference double header beginning at 10 a.m. The game they may be looking forward to more is Monday night's showdown with Maroa-Forsyth and All-State pitcher Kayti Lundin. 

Photo: Clinton hurler Bailey Walker (16) was solid Thursday, striking out two Red Raiders from Central A&M. 

Sixth inning propels Lady Maroons

CLINTON - Two outs? No problem for the Clinton Lady Maroons. The Lady Maroons scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning tonight to pull ahead of Hartsburg-Emden, and held on to win their second game of the season, 9-5.

Tied at five with two out in the bottom of the sixth, Alicia Mitchell hit the go-ahead RBI single that scored Emma Donnelly. Freshman Morgan Hickman then hit a two-run double that scored Mitchell and Emily Kroeger, and Hickman herself scored the final run of the game on a Lacey Lord single. A few Hartsburg-Emden defensive mishaps aided the Lady Maroons, who will play Fisher tomorrow evening in what will be their third game in as many days.

"It was a good team win," Clinton head coach Emily Starkey said. "They are getting better and taking steps forward everyday."

Bailey Walker started on the mound for Clinton and struck out eight batters. Meghan Matthews came in relief of Bailey in the fifth inning to get the win.

"Bailey started the game well for us and Meghan finished it off nicely," Starkey said.

Matthews began the game in the outfield, which was one of a few defensive changes Starkey made prior to the game.

"We switched things around to tighten our defense and it worked, the girls all did a nice job," Starkey said.

Emma Donnelly and Lacey Lord each had three hits and two RBI to lead the Lady Maroons offensively. Morgan Hickman also had two RBI for Clinton (2-4).

Photo: Clinton hurler Meghan Matthews (3) got the win in relief for the Lady Maroons Tuesday night against Hartsburg-Emden.

Lady Maroons rough opener

CLINTON - The post-Shelbi Rentmeister era began on a sour note for the Clinton Lady Maroons Friday night. Five fourth inning runs by the Heyworth Hornets proved to be too much for Clinton, a team that hadn't lost an opener since 2006.
Abby Van Winkle and Emily Lyons combined for five RBI on two hits in the third inning that broke open a 2-1 game. A Dakota Springer RBI single in the fifth gave Heyworth their eighth and final run of an 8-1 victory.
Clinton's lone run came in the first when leadoff hitter and starting pitcher Meghan Matthews scored on a single from Ashley Toberman.
Matthews did well on the mound in her first career varsity start as a pitcher. A disastrous fourth inning spoiled outing. Meghan worked herself out of a pair of jams in the third and fifth innings.
Clinton head coach Emily Starkey said that while the team's infield will stay pretty much the same throughout the year, the outfield will be a rotation until they are confident with what they have.
With the losses of Rentmeister, Casey Barretts and Kristen Wherry, this team may take a few games to gel. But Starkey is confident the team will pick it up as the season progresses.
I agree. The team still has experienced talent in Matthews, Rachel Austin and Emma Donnelly. But what they have now that they haven't in a few years is potentially a star-studded freshman class. Morgan Hickman started at second base Friday and probably will for the next four years. Bailey Walker hopes to fit in well as the team's number two pitcher before taking over as the ace in 2011.

Photo: Clinton outfielder Alicia Mitchell runs the bases during the Lady Maroons' 8-1 loss to Heyworth Friday evening in Clinton.