For The Tribune

CROTHERSVILLE

Trinity Lutheran’s softball team scored five runs in the first inning Monday and cruised to a 12-0, five-inning win against Crothersville.

The Cougars, who had 18 hits, got their bats going early as Savannah Harweger opened the game with a single and Jodi Goecker followed with a double. Genesis Munoz squeezed Harweger home, and Goecker also scored on the play.

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Jaryn Holtsclaw followed with a triple, and Morgan Gabbard, Maddie Bell and Savanna Setty had hits and RBIs.

Holtsclaw singled and scored in the second. The Cougars added three runs in the third on a hit, walk and error, and an RBI single by Munoz.

The Cougars bunched two hits, three walks and a hit batsman to score three in the fourth, with Bell driving in a run with a hit.

Trinity had six doubles and a triple. Goecker had four hits, including three doubles. Holtsclaw and Gabbard had three hits each, and Deaton, Bell and Setty had two hits each.

Deaton held the Tigers hitless until the third when Shea Reynolds singled past the shortstop. Reynolds also had a single to center in the fifth.

The Tigers threatened in the second when Kalynda Hoevener was safe on an error and Victoria Kinser walked, but Deaton struck out the next three batters.

Deaton went three innings and Gabbard pitched two and they combined to allow two singles, strike out 10 and walk one.

Cougars coach Chad Goecker was pleased with the win.

“Tonight we got to work on a lot of things,” he said. “The girls have got to learn patience, they have to learn discipline, and they put the bat on the ball very well.

“It is tough to hit a slower-speed pitcher, and they made the adjustment right away, right off the bat. There have been years when we’ve struggled for two or three innings to just make good, solid contact, and the girls did a very good job with that tonight.

“We also got a chance to work on some base-running with some girls that haven’t had that opportunity, so that was also a good experience for them.”

Tigers coach Jeanette Yoder said she needs to see more hustle after the ball.

“That definitely hurt us tonight,” Yoder said. “There were a lot of gappers in the outfield that we just didn’t hustle after.

“I thought our pitcher did pretty well, especially the first few innings. Hitting wise, our girls were making contact even if it was foul balls, so we need to work on putting the ball in play more, and being heads up when we’re on the bases, making sure if there are passed balls that we get to the next base and things like that. We had some missed opportunities there.”

Coach Goecker said there’s still work to be done.

“We still found some things we need to work on after tonight’s game,” he said. “That’s encouraging when you can come out of a game and find things that you have to work on to get better, so there are positives.”

The Cougars (2-1) will play at Indianapolis Lutheran today, while the Tigers (0-2) will travel to Lanesville on Wednesday and will be home to New Washington on Thursday.