St. Paul Holds Off O'Neill For First Win
High school softball officially kicked off Thursday on the all-new Central Nebraska Today dot com Sports Network, as the St. Paul Wildcats welcomed the O’Neill Eagles to Howard County.
The action got started quickly. Bristol Scott reached on a three-base error to lead off the game for O’Neill. St. Paul sophomore pitcher Brooklyn Heater then struck out the next two batters before O’Neill starting pitcher Jozy York singled to left, bringing home Scott and giving the Eagles an early 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats answered in the bottom of the first, collecting four of their eight hits in the game and scoring five runs to take a 5-1 advantage.
O’Neill made a pitching change in the second inning, swapping Scott and York between third base and the pitching circle. Both teams had opportunities from the second through the fourth innings, but neither could capitalize, with St. Paul carrying a four-run lead into the fifth.
That’s when O’Neill applied some pressure, scoring three runs to cut the Wildcat lead to 5-4.
St. Paul responded with a pair of insurance runs in the sixth. Kaia Douthit and Kyndel Sack both reached base before junior Annie Stepanek tattooed a shot to right-center field, driving in both runners and extending the Wildcat lead to 7-4.
In the top of the seventh, the Wildcat defense shut the door, recording three consecutive groundouts to end the game.
St. Paul finished with seven runs on eight hits and one error, while O’Neill scored four runs on two hits without committing an error.
The win gives St. Paul its first victory of the young season, while O’Neill falls to 0-1.
Heater earned the win with a complete-game performance, allowing four runs on just two hits. Two of those runs were earned. She struck out 11 and walked three.
St. Paul will return to action this weekend at the Milford Invitational, its first tournament of the season.