Loss avenged
By KYLE WILSON
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kwilson@crestonnews.com
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AFTON — East Union’s Britney Roseman lined a single through the left side against Murray in the first inning Tuesday. The single drove in two runs.
And that’s all that East Union needed. With an effective Holly Ross in the circle, East Union avenged a previous loss to Murray, 3-1, and captured its sixth win of the summer.
“The first time we played them at the Orient Tournament, we were flat,” East Union coach Christine Bear said. “Tonight, we came out with intensity. And we have some girls that are, and have been, successful against Ashleigh.”
East Union outhit the Lady Mustangs 8 to 3. East Union’s Mariah Kruse, hitting at the top of the line up, was 3-for-3 with a double and a bunt single. Shelby Smith was 2-for-4 in the three hole and Roseman was 1-for-3 in the sixth spot with two important RBI’s.
“Britney has struggled lately, so I moved her down in the line up,” Bear said. “But she’s a very good hitter. And it worked out because she came up at an opportune time in the game. It was a nice line drive through the left side of the infield.”
East Union scored two runs in the opening inning. And Murray recovered one run, scoring one in the second, making the score 2-1. But in the fourth, East Union added an insurance run.
Eighth grader Rochelle Means, leading off the inning, got plenty of barrel on a fastball from Ashleigh Neal. Means scorched a liner past the first baseman, the ball bounced down the right field line to the fence and Means ended with a stand-up triple.
Three batters later, Taylor Hardisty looped a long fly ball to center field and Means scored easily, tagging from third.
“For an eighth grader, who has only played in the JV ranks, I thought she came up with a big hit,” Bear said. “It was her first big hit at the varsity level. And it was key because when you’re playing Murray, you never have enough runs. And Taylor followed her. She knew what she needed to do and she stepped up and hit a long fly ball for the run.”
Neal was consistently in the strike zone, accumulating eight strikeouts and walking one for Murray. Holly Ross struck out seven in seven innings of work, allowed just two hits, one run and walked one.
“Ross was able to strike us out more than I anticipated,” Murray coach Dan Jensen said. “We had our chances early, but then she settled in and handcuffed us the rest of the game. Not only did she pitch well, but the defense was good behind her.”
Murray’s two hits came off the bat of Chelsey Rote. She went 2-for-3 against Ross. Murray moves to 9-16 overall and 3-4 inside the conference. East Union picks up win No. 6 to go with 13 losses and stay at 3-9 inside the Pride of Iowa.
East Union 3, Murray 1
R H E
Mur 010 000 0 — 1 2 4
EU 200 100 0 — 3 6 2
EU: W — Ross, 7K, 2H 1BB and Kruse. M: L— Neal, 8K, 6H, 1BB and Otto. HR — none. 3B — Means. 2B — Kruse. RBI — Hardisty (1), Roseman (2). Multiple hitters — Kruse 3-3, Smith 2-4; M: Rote 2-3.
