Baseball sweeps Council Grove, softball tumbles to Trinity

The holiday break brought mixed results for the Marion baseball and softball teams.

The Warriors’ baseball team swept the Braves 18-3 and 10-4 on April 16 at Council Grove.

The softball team wasn’t as fortunate in Marion, dropping 2-0 and 9-5 decisions to Hutchinson-Trinity.

The two face a tough home-challenge Friday hosting Sedgwick.

Softball

For the last three games, the Warriors have had the luxury of a quick start carrying them through the second game.

But Marion had yet to see the pitching quite like the Celtics had at their disposal.

Trinity held the Warriors to just one hit in 22 at bats for the 2-0 win.

Grace Overton was responsible for the one hit, also tossed a four-hitter.

Chisholm Waner ran into trouble right away in the bottom of the first inning with the Celtics opening a 3-0 lead.

Marion spent the next six innings trying to run down Trinity.

Trinity built a 5-2 lead with the Warriors down to their final three outs before Marion’s offense got on track.

Macy Sigel went for 1-for-2, driving in a team-high 2 RBIs while the trio of Laura Savage, Tori Shults, and Megan Neufeld combined for 3.

The Warriors forced extra innings pushing three runs across for the 5-5 tie and escaped.

Trinity put the game away in the eighth inning, driving in 4 runs for the final and handing Waner the defeat with 15 hits.

Baseball

Friday’s showdown between Sedgwick and the Warriors will have league title implications on the line.

Council Grove grabbed a 2-1 lead against Sam Zinn in the opener, but struggled after that.

The Warriors pounded the Braves’ pitching staff with 11 hits, exploding for 17 runs for a four-inning win.

Zinn surrendered four hits and one earned run, but struck out eight Braves for the victory.

Seth Lanning and Evann Heidebrecht combined for six of the Warriors’ 13 RBIs while Zinn, Eli Hett, and Cooper Carpenter each drove in two.

The Warriors’ offense stayed hot for the finale, putting the Braves in a 4-0 hole closing out the top half of the first inning.

The Braves chased Warrior starter Braeden Mercer for eight hits, but Marion’s defense allowed them no closer than 4-2 heading into the second inning.

Mercer was credited with the win in five innings of action with Chase Stringer throwing the remainder of the game.

The Warriors’ 5 RBIs off 10 hits came from the duo of Luke Lanning and Blaine Mermis with Lanning driving in a game-high 3.