Marshall crushes North foes

Marshall Academy started the North 4A Fast-Pitch Tournament Saturday on fire with 31 hits in two games.

The Lady Patriots, hosts for the tourney, coasted to opening-day wins over Central Holmes Christian School and North Delta School.

A nine-run fourth inning sparked MA to a 15-0 rout of Central Holmes in the opener Saturday morning at Gibson Field.

Carrying the big bats for the Lady Patriots in the victory were Hallie Turner with three hits and a run-batted-in, Landry Loper with three hits and Christa Schultz with two hits and four RBIs.

Also getting two hits each were Carlie Vannucci and Zoey Rippee, who also had an RBI.

Rounding out the 14-hit attack were Gracie Rappa, who had one hit and drove in four runs, and Meredith Anthony, with a hit and two RBIs.

Marshall had seven stolen bases, with Evelyn Greer swiping two of those.

Vannucci had a strong outing from the circle. She struck out 10, issued no walks and gave up only two hits in five innings of work.

That afternoon, the MA bats stayed hot. Seventeen hits led the Lady Patriots to a 13-0 win over North Delta.

Loper had a huge four-hit game, and she drove in a run.

Rappa had three hits and an RBI. Natalie Shaw and Schultz each had two hits and drove in three runs. Both of Shaw’s hits were doubles. Turner added a couple of hits.

Also getting one hit each were Vannucci, Anthony, Kamdyn Taylor and Rippee. Vannucci had two RBIs and Anthony and Taylor one each.

The big inning for Lady Patriots this time around was the third when they tallied seven runs.

Turner earned the pitching victory. In five innings, she struck out 10, walked one and gave up just two hits.

Marshall (18-6-1) advanced to face Winona Christian School Monday morning at home in the finals of the winner’s bracket. Lee Academy and North Delta were also in the final four. The tournament was slated to wrap up Monday evening.

Regular season finale

The Lady Patriots wrapped up the regular season Wednesday of last week with a 10-0 home win over District 1-4A foe Kirk Academy.

MA, the district champion, finished unbeaten in district play.

Marshall scored four in the first, four in the second and two in the fourth to end the game early.

Shaw powered the 11-hit outburst. She had three hits, including a double, and three RBIs. Rippee followed with two hits and three RBIs. Turner and Loper contributed two hits each. Schultz had a hit and drove in a run. Greer also had a hit.

Turner started in the circle and got the win. In two innings, she struck out six, gave up no hits and issued no walks.

Vannucci threw a couple of innings — striking out five, issuing no walks and giving up two hits.

Macy Sloan pitching an inning and got all three outs via the strikeout.