Lady Lions secure tough road win against Ouachita for in-county softball battle on the diamond
For an in-county showdown on the diamond Tuesday, the Bismarck Lady Lions visited their neighboring rivals Ouachita Lady Warriors in a non-conference duel of softball competition. In a seven inning contest, the Lady Lions prevailed 12-7 against the Lady Warriors.
Bismarck tallied 12 runs on 11 hits to break into double-digits offensively. Ouachita sparked for seven runs on 10 hits to ignite double-digits of execution in the frame.
Bismarck’s Ellie Norris led the offense with three hits (a triple and a double), whileavery Efird and Cadence “Cada” Collins and Samantha Collie each powered two hits—shaley Mccloud and M. Brown each collected a hit. Collins and Efird led the scoring attack and scored three runs apiece—mccloud scored two runs, while the core of Norris, Collie, Brown and Zoey Simmons each scored once. Norris and Collie drove in three runs for three RBIS, Mccloud had two RBIS and Norah Kopkau and Collins each had one RBI.
Ouachita’s Sloan Stafford powered the offense for the Lady Warriors and led with three hits, Sophie Davis and Perri Efird each collected two hits apiece— Rayna Gray, Rylee Gray and Makenzie Seale all sparked for a hit in the frame. Davis drove in two runs for two RBIS, Seale and Stafford each had an RBI. The trio of Raylee Slate, Rayna Gray and Perri Efird led the scoring surge and scored two runs with Rylee Gray scoring once.
The match-up had a shift of lead changes with the Lady Warriors coming out with the early spark and led
Bismarck 6-1 through the second inning. The Lady Lions rallied in the top of the third and routed five runs to knot the game a 6-6.
As the fourth inning was scoreless, the Lady Lions fed off their momentum and took the lead with a run while Ouachita fell short to capitalize on their offense in the fifth. Bismarck held a one-run lead at 7-6.
Then in the top of the sixth, the Lady Lions took the lead for good by routing five runs in the inning to increase their margin to a 12-6 advantage.the Lady Warriors didn’t give up as they rallied for a run in the bottom of the sixth, but had a five-run deficit to Bismarck.
In the seventh inning, the defense took command and both teams held each other scoreless—resulting in a Lady Lions’ victory.
In the circle, Bismarck utilized two pitchers to lead the infield defense. Heidi Henson pitched six and two-thirds innings, allowed 10 hits, three earned runs and struck out seven batters and threw 57 strikes—norris pitched and faced six batters and allowed no hits and three earned runs.
Ouachita’s Slate ignited the work in the circle for the Lady Warriors and pitched seven innings, allowed 11 hits, seven earned runs and struck out seven batters and threw 74 strikes.
UP NEXT
Today, the Lady Warriors are journeying on the road for non-conference play facing Arkadelphia, while the Lady Lions return home to host Haskell Harmony Grove for league softball action in Bismarck.