Piasa Softball Now 20-1 With EAWR Win

Southwestern pounded the ball in an 11-0 win over East Alton-Wood River at Piasa on Tuesday. 

Along with the strong hitting, Sydney Baumgartner continued her dominance on the mound for the Piasa Birds, tossing a three-hitter. 

Adrianna Ulrich, Caitlin Lemond and Kayla Aligholi had the Oilers’ hits.  

Megan Bailey had three hits for the Piasa Birds, and three girls - Bailee Nixon, Baumgartner and Bailee Sorgea each had two hits for Southwestern. 

Southwestern increases its record to 20-1 with the victory and is one of the top-ranked teams in its category in Illinois. 

The Piasa Birds’ head softball coach Peg Mitchell said her team continues to take things one inning and one game at a time and when a team does that, good things happen. 

“We do have 20 wins with one loss, so we have a lot to be proud of,” she said. “We have a big game against Hillsboro coming up, we are both undefeated in the conference.”

Next Tuesday, the Piasa Birds host East Alton-Wood River again in regional play. Marquette will be the team to beat in the regional, Mitchell said. Hillsboro is on the other side of the regional brackets, Mitchell added, then if Southwestern continues through, they would likely play Williamsville or Petersburg. 

Oilers’ head girls softball coach Dana Emerick said Southwestern came to play and continued its prowess at the plate and on the mound. “We came into the game, making it an effort and the girls tried hard,” Emerick said. “I am not surprised at how good Southwestern is right now. I have seen them year to year and there were no real surprises.”