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Big Red softball struggles

GLEN DALE — In just its second game of the young season, John Marshall looked polished in all phases of the game.

The Monarchs laced 10 hits, all-state senior Carli Lightner was electric in the circle and the defense was solid behind her in a 10-0, four-inning mercy rule victory over visiting Steubenville on Monday.

Lightner allowed one hit and one walk, while striking out seven hitters.

“I was mostly using my drop-curve and my fastball,” Lightner said. “I only faced three batters in our first game, but I pitched all year-round and put in a lot of work.”

The motivation of falling just short in last year’s state championship game might have added fuel to the fire for Lightner’s lights-out performance.

“We were just really excited to get back on the field,” Lightner said. “We are definitely hoping to get back down to states this year.”

At the plate, John Marshall was led by sophomore shortstop Abby Blake, who put a jolt into a pitch in the second inning and sent it well beyond the left-field fence for her first hit and home run of the season.

Blake also stole a base, delivered an RBI single and scored the final run to bring the mercy rule into action.

“Abby got a hold of one,” John Marshall coach Ed West said. “She is a good stick for us. She needed that. She went 0-for-3 in the first game so it’s nice to see her come back and get a couple of nice hits. I’m pleased for her.”

The lone hit for Big Red came in the fourth frame when all-state catcher Kameron DiMarzio muscled a single into right field.

“We didn’t come here ready to play this game and that falls on me,” Steubenville coach Gus DiMarzio said. “We waited until the fourth inning to show any life. You can’t do that against a team like John Marshall. They are solid one through nine, and you can’t just show up late in the game to play a good team.

“We’ll get better, though. We’re not a bad team. We have to improve on a few things. We made some errors and gave them a couple of runs but they earned most of their runs. But we’ll get better. I promise you that.”

John Marshall started fast as leadoff hitter Anna Blake reached on an error, swiped second and scored on a Lightner groundout to take a 1-0 edge. Kameryn Skrzyneki added a RBI knock to score Lauren Garcia and make it a 2-0 lead after one.

The Monarchs batted around in a six-run second stanza as Lightner walloped a two-run single, Taylor Gray provided an infield RBI knock and Abby Blake fired a two-run blast into the cool spring air, creating an 8-0 cushion.

Abby Blake provided her third RBI in the fourth, before Gray sent everyone home with a game-ending RBI single.

John Marshall catcher Maddy Mayle accounted for two hits.

“I thought we swung the bats really well,” West said. “One thing I was looking for was trying to get the kids to be more aggressive at the plate and swinging at good pitches. They did a good job of that.

“I thought Carli looked really good in the circle and our defense made plays when they had to.”

The win was John Marshall’s last game before hitting the road for Tennessee, where it will face top competition this weekend at the Ripken Complex in Pigeon Forge.

“We leave Wednesday morning and will play two games Thursday, two Friday and two Saturday,” West said. “I did a little research on the teams we will play and they all look like they are going to be solid teams.”

John Marshall 10, Steubenville 0

Steubenville 0-0-0 0 — 0-1-3

John Marshall 2-6-0 2 — 10-10-1

S–Fields lp (2SO, 5W) and Carducci, Ferguson (3).

J–Lightner wp (7SO, 1W) and Mayle. Lightner S, 3RBI; Mayle 2S; Ab. Blake HR, S, 3RBI; Skrzyneki S, RBI; Gray 2S, 2RBI.

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