Article and photos by T Ray Henry
The Marshall High School softball team traveled to the Mattoon Roundhouse Complex to face the Mattoon High School Green Wave in a non-conference game. The Lions came into the game with a record of 6-0, while the Green Wave were coming in off the heels of their first loss of the season at Robinson two days before. Mattoon had been ranked #13 in IHSA Class 3A, so playing a school four times larger would provide the Big Red with a good snapshot of where they stand in the first quarter of the season.
In a game where the Lions broke out on top in the bottom of the second inning by scoring three runs, the Green Wave responded by scoring one run in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game at 3 going into the seventh inning. Marshall played small ball and pushed home a run to take a 4-3 lead into the bottom half of the seventh. The Green Wave went down 1-2-3 in the home half, and Marshall squeaked out a 4-3 win over Mattoon to improve their record to 7-0 on the season.
Taking the ball in the circle for Marshall was senior Avery Cornwell, and she pitched marvelously, going seven innings for the complete game victory, giving up three runs (2 earned) on five hits, walking two while striking out six. Cornwell got out of jams in the latter innings, but she pitched a perfect seventh to seal the win.
After a scoreless first inning, Marshall came up to bat in the top of the second looking to push across a run or two after leaving a runner stranded at third base to end the first. With one out in the inning, Ella Mattas singled to the left side before Kyla Gustafson drew a walk to put Marshall runners on at first and second. Caitlyn Hilliard then bunted both runners to second and third with the second out of the inning. Into the batter’s box stepped Lilly Nickles, who came through in the clutch by smacking the first pitch she saw up the middle for a single that scored Mattas and Gustafson to make the score 2-0 in favor of Marshall. On the throw to the plate from center field, Nickles raced into second base to put a Lion in scoring position. During the next sequence, Nickles took off and slid into third base safely on the steal, and when the throw got away, Nickles jumped and sprinted home to give the Lions a 3-0 lead.
Marshall continued to put pressure on Mattoon, but they couldn’t push any more runs across (Marshall left 10 on base throughout the game). In the bottom of the fifth, Mattoon pushed a run across to cut Marshall’s lead to 3-1, and in the bottom of the sixth, the Green Wave pushed across two more runs to tie the game at 3. The sixth ended on a fabulous play by Marshall’s Ella Mattas, who ran down a fly ball in short right field, then she spun and threw the ball to Klaire York at first base to double up the runner and end the scoring threat with the score still tied.
With the teams headed to the seventh inning, it was anyone’s game. With Marshall looking to drive in the go-ahead run, Klaire York got it started by hitting a one-out rocket to the wall in left field for a double. Mollie Kent subsequently replaced York on the base path. Ella Mattas stepped up to bat next, and she dropped a perfect bunt to the left side which she beat out for a single as Kent advanced to third base. With the Lions continuing to play small ball, Kyla Gustafson stepped up to the plate, and the Big Red executed a perfect safety squeeze. As Gustafson was thrown out at first base for the second out, Mollie Kent sprinted home for Marshall to take a 4-3 lead.
With three outs remaining to seal the game, Avery Cornwell struck out the first batter, then she induced a ground ball to herself to get the next batter, then she induced a fly ball to third baseman Kyla Gustafson for the third and final out to end the game with the Lions coming away with a 4-3 win over Mattoon.
Lynn Welborn (triple, double) and Ella Mattas (single, single) each collected two hits to lead the Lions at the plate. Lilly Nickles had two big runs batted in when she drove a single to center field with two outs in the top of the second inning. Nickles would then later steal third, then she came home to score Marshall’s third run of the game. Lynn Welborn and Lauren English each drew two walks for the Lions to put constant pressure on the Green Wave defense. Klaire York’s double in the seventh, followed by the consecutive bunts by Ella Mattas and Kyla Gustafson, manufactured the winning run when the Lions struggled to bring runners across.
After the game, Marshall head coach Ryan McGuire said, “Avery Cornwell pitched great today and kept us in the game when our run production wasn’t clicking on all cylinders. Lilly Nickles came through in a big way in the top of the second to bring home two runs, then she saw an opening on that steal of third base, and when the ball got away from Mattoon on the play, she never hesitated to break for home. That is what we want to do – put pressure on a defense and score in bunches. I am proud of the team for coming together after Mattoon tied it up in the sixth and we got that go-ahead run in the seventh that held up.
Ella Mattas made a great play in the sixth to double off a runner and end the inning. No matter where she plays on the field, she always makes plays for us. Our team really ramped up after that play, and that energy stayed up as we got that run in the seventh to win the game.
We are of the belief that iron sharpens iron, and playing a solid team such as Mattoon will certainly help us moving forward this season. We have four games this weekend at the Lady Braves (Terre Haute South) Bash, so we need to be ready to play top-flight competition. In our pool alone, we are playing three much larger schools (Martinsville, IN – enrollment 1330, Terre Haute South – enrollment 1640, and Edgewood – enrollment 641), then we will be paired against a school from another pool that will finish with a similar record in the round-robin portion, so whomever we play in the fourth game will be another quality opponent. We have one practice (today) to prepare, then we play four games this weekend followed by three games next week, including our conference opener on Monday at Robinson and our conference home opener next Thursday against Paris. We will find out over these seven games what kind of team we have.”
Marshall (7-0) plays Martinsville (IN) High School to open up the Braves Bash on Field #4 at the Miss Softball America Complex in Terre Haute on Friday evening at 7:00 PM Illinois time. On Saturday, the Lions will play Terre Haute South at THS High School Field #1 at 8:00 AM Illinois time, then they will play Edgewood (IN) at THS High School Field #2 at 10:00 AM Illinois time. Their final opponent and site on Saturday afternoon will be determined by round-robin results.
Lynn
Welborn got Marshall started by smashing a triple to lead off the game against Mattoon
Klaire York rocketed a double to the wall in left field in the top of the 7th which led to Marshall scoring the winning run against Mattoon
Lilly Nickles (foreground) races to first base after driving the ball through the middle to score Ella Mattas (background) and Kyla Gustafson with Marshall's first 2 runs against Mattoon
Marshall's Avery Cornwell pitched a complete game to get the 4-3 win over Mattoon
Ella Mattas had two hits and scored a run against Mattoon, but her web gem catch and double play in the bottom of the 6th propelled the Lions to the win
