LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
Thursday, Aug. 22 marked the latest installment of the storied, cross-town softball rivalry between the Mayo Redbirds and Crestwood Eagles. Both teams gave hustle and heart on the field, but a red-hot performance at the plate and an impressive outing on the mound boosted Mayo to a four-inning rout of the Eagles.
Lexi Crippes opened the game at the top of the order for Crestwood, facing off against Mayo’s ace pitcher Ava Tarr. Crippes walked and Carsten Haddix shot a line drive single to right field, advancing Crippes to third base. With the threat of an early Crestwood run looming, Tarr took matters into her own hands and fanned the next three batters to escape the top of the first with zero runs allowed.
Brooke McGrath opened the contest in the circle for Crestwood. A single and a fielding error on a subsequent bunt allowed two Redbirds to advance to third and second base, respectively. Leah Sanders cracked the scoreboard, crushing a line drive to left field to score Tarr and Hellie Barrett. After another line drive, this time from Maddox Adams, pushed Sanders to third base. The Eagles defense recovered its composure and picked up a trio of outs to end the inning.
Mayo enjoyed a modest 2-0 lead heading into the second inning – a lead that was about to grow rapidly.
After Tarr recorded another pair of strikeouts and notched the assist for the final out, the Redbirds were up to bat once more. Crestwood grabbed two outs early in the inning, but a sacrifice fly from Sanders squeezed fellow Redbird Kadence Johnson across home plate. Adams stepped up to the plate, taking a strike and two foul balls. With the inning hanging in the balance, she took the next pitch deep to center for a triple, scoring Tarr.
Sloan Vilk returned the favor, hitting a rope to center to score Adams and make the score 5-0.
The Redbird onslaught continued when a Crestwood fielding error allowed two more runners to cross home, bringing the tally to 7-0 after two innings.
Despite the early deficit, Crestwood continued to scrap. Haddix made her way to first on a Mayo error before Kyndal Fuqua hit a single to second base. Despite their early progress, the Eagles batting corps encountered a familiar obstacle in Tarr, who painted the corners with three straight strikeouts to end the top of the third.
Crestwood managed to hold Mayo scoreless in the bottom of three, but not in the fourth. RBIs from Vilk, Krysten McNulty, Johnson and Barrett pushed the lead out to 12-0, sealing a run-rule win for the Redbirds.
Carsten Haddix, Kyndal Fuqua and Bayah Good all recorded one hit apiece for the Eagles. Brooke McGrath took the loss on the mound, throwing three innings and allowing 10 hits and 12 runs (eight earned). McGrath struck out two batters on the day.
Crestwood also recorded two errors.
For the Redbirds, Leah Sanders had a productive day at the plate, finishing with three RBIs on one hit. Sloan Vilk and Kadence Johnson chipped in two RBIs on two and one hit, respectively, while Hellie Barrett, Maddox Adams and Krysten McNulty all recorded one RBI each.
Ava Tarr went the distance and took the win as the Redbirds’ pitcher, allowing just three hits in four innings of work. Tarr finished the day with 10 strikeouts.
Crestwood will look to bounce back against the St. Anthony Bullpups at 10 a.m. today, Aug. 24.
The Redbirds will enjoy a short break before returning to action at home against Oblong at 4:30 p.m., Aug. 27.