Raiders defeat Whitehawks, Stars

The Central softball team capped off a busy week with a pair of wins over Mound Westonka and Southwest Christian on Saturday.

The Raiders started the week with a split against Tri-City United, bouncing back from a 2-1 loss with a 10-7 win. The Raiders then split with Sibley East, losing 3-4 before winning 16-1. After a couple of losses to Glencoe Silver Lake and Holy Family, the Raiders defeated Mound Westonka 17-1 and Southwest Christian 3-2.

The Raiders outhit TCU 18-7 in the 10-7 win, but would not find separation until the 8th inning. With the game tied at 7-7, the Raiders’ offense got started when Abby Venske and Ayla Fox both got on base, Britney Smith then scored both runners before Isabella Miller batted in the third run of the inning. Grace Mueller earned the win in five innings with no earn runs allowed.

The Raiders again bounced back from a close loss with a strong offensive output when they beat Sibley East 16-1, outhitting the Wolverine 17-6. Smith led the Raiders at the plate with four RBI’s on three hits. Venske, Haley Neubarth and Lacey Buckentin each had two RBIs. Mueller again earned the win with no earned runs in four innings.

Smith was again the top hitter in the win over Mound Westonka, this time with four hits and five RBIs. Fox drove in three runs on one hit, while Sarah Steinhagen earned the win in six innings with two hits and no earned runs.

The Raiders got their second extra innings win of the week when taking on the Stars. Southwest Christian scored in the top half of the 8th inning to take a 2-1 lead before the Raiders responded with two runs of their own to earn the walk off win.

Morgan Alar doubled on a ground ball, then scored on a single from Smith. Venske then tripled to score the winning run. Alar led the Raiders in hits with three, while Smith, Venske and Steinhagen each had two.

The four victories last week put the Raiders at 12 wins on the season.