CHS Lady Jackets Softball drops six-in-a-row
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Overall record stands at 2-13 with losses to A.J., Pinckneyville, Sparta, DuQuoin, A.J. and New Athens
The Chester High School Lady Yellow Jackets Softball Team continues to struggle with six losses in-a-row. CHS was struggling anyway, but really felt a blow to their lineup weeks ago with the loss of senior catcher and infielder, Megan Atchison to an ankle injury.
With six consecutive losses the Jackets have fallen to an overall record of 2-13 and a SIRR Conference record of 0-8. CHS lost to Anna-Jonesboro at home, Pinckneyville on the road, Sparta on the road, DuQuoin at home, Anna-Jonesboro on the road, and New Athens at home.
April 12: Anna-Jonesboro 4-Chester 0
The Jackets basically had no offense against A.J. as Lady Wildcat pitcher K. Brush struck out 11 Lady Jacket batters, forced two pop-ups in the infield, forced four pop-ups to the outfield and forced the Jackets to ground out four times.
The Jackets had only one base runner, Ashley Andrews, but she got stranded when Morgan Colvis grounded out for the third out in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Wildcats scored two runes in the top of the first inning and a run in the top of the second and third innings to beat the jackets, 4-0. With the loss CHS fell to 2-8 overall and 0-4 in the conference.
April 13: Pinckneyville 17-Chester 2
Chester traveled to Pinckneyville to take on the Lady Panthers. The Jackets had several opportunities in this game, but failed to score when it counted as Pinckneyville short-gamed CHS, 17-0 in five innings.
Chester actually led, 1-0 in the top of the first inning when Mollie Laramore scored on an Ashley Andrews double. Taylor Crum, Morgan Colvis and Taylor Gross struck out and the Lady Jackets production was quickly halted.
Then Pinckneyville came to bat. In the bottom of the first inning the Lady Panthers scored 12 runs on nine hits including a Taylor Cicardi home run. During that stretch the Jackets also committed two errors and walked a runner to help Pinckneyville take a commanding lead.
CHS scored again in the top of the fifth inning when Allie Schmerbauch got on base on a walk and Ashley Lindsey knocked her in on a base hit giving the Jackets their second run. For the game Laramore had a hit, Andrews had a double, Lauren Hoops knocked a double and Lindsey had a hit. Pinckneyville recorded 16 hits in the win. With the loss CHS fell to 2-9 overall and 0-5 in the SIRR Conference.
April 20:Sparta 10-Chester 0
At Sparta the Lady Bulldogs shut out and short-gamed the Jackets, 10-0, in five innings. Sparta pitcher J. Sroka struck out seven Jacket batters, forced four batters to ground out, got four batters to fly out and allowed only two CHS hits in the win.
Freshman Jocelyn Fortman got a hit in the top of the first inning but failed to advance as Morgan Colvis struck out to end the inning. Taylor Crum reached base on a hit in the top of the third inning but stalled on first base when Mollie Laramore and Ashley Andrews struck out to end the inning. The only other Yellow Jacket player to reach base was Dani Homan who got to first on a Sparta error in the top of the second.
Sparta scored 10 runs on seven hits including six singles and a triple. The Bulldogs were also assisted by six Yellow Jacket errors and a walk. CHS pitcher struck out three Bulldog batters, forced three Sparta players to ground out and got six Lady Bulldogs to pop up. With the loss Chester dropped to 2-10 overall and 0-6 in the conference.
April 22: DuQuoin 9-Chester 0
Chester hosted DuQuoin but the home field advantage didn't seem to help as the Lady Indians shut out the Jackets, 9-0. DuQuoin scored six in the second, one in the fifth and two more runs in the seventh inning to beat CHS. The Indians accomplished all of this on six hits and with the help of seven Yellow Jacket errors.
For the game Mollie Laramore went three-for-three for Chester's only hits. DuQuoin struck out 15 Chester batters to keep the jackets from making any serious offensive threats in the game. With the loss the Jackets fell to 2-11 overall and 0-7 in the Mississippi Division of the River-to-River Conference.
April 23: Anna-Jonesboro 17-Chester-0
At Anna-Jonesboro the Lady Jackets were short-gamed in five innings, 17-0. The Lady Wildcats scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, five runs in the bottom of the second and seven runs in the bottom of the third. As if that wasn't enough, they added yet one more run in the fourth to make it 17 runs.
A.J. created all of this offense on six singles, a pair of doubles, five walks and four errors. CHS pitchers, Taylor Gross and organ Colvis, could only strike out two Wildcat batters. They forced two batters to pop up and two batters to ground out, but all together 30 A.J. players came to the plate during the four innings that the Wildcats batted. They did not need the final bat at the bottom of the fifth inning to seal the win.
Chester got three hits on singles by Ashley Andrews and Lauren Hops while Jocelynn Fortman smashed a double in the top of the fifth. Patterson and Haden struck out five Yellow Jackets and forced six pop-ups and four CHS batters to ground out. All together, 20 Chester batters came to the plate in their five innings of offense. The loss dropped CHS to 2-12 overall and kept the Lady Jackets winless in the conference.
April 29: New Athens 8-Chester 5
The Chester Lady Jackets hosted New Athens Thursday, April 29 at the Cohen Softball Complex. It was certain from the start that the Yellow Jackets would win the game. The only thing to be determined was whether the winner would be the Chester Yellow Jackets or the New Athens Yellow Jackets.
Both teams saw this contest as one they could win. New Athens took an early two-run lead in the top of the first inning as they took advantage of three CHS errors in-a-row. The New Athens Lady Jackets added another run in the top of the third to lead, 3-0.
Chester went down pretty much, one-two-three in their first three bats, then came alive in the final four innings. It was the first time in several games that Chester played a full game and avoided the dreadful short-game situation.
Ashley Andrews started tings off in the bottom of the fourth with a base hit and Taylor Gross knocked a double to score Andrews for Chester's first run. New Athens led, 3-1.
The next inning Rachel Sheely reached base on a single with two outs and Mollie Laramore slammed a single to move Sheely to second. The could-have-been rally ended when Taylor Crum popped up to the catcher to end the inning.
New Athens added a run in the top of the fourth to lead, 4-1, but Colvis retired three New Athens batters in-a-row in the top of the fifth to hold the New Athens Yellow Jackets at bay.
The top of the sixth inning proved to be the back-breaker for CHS as New Athens scored four more runs to take a commanding, 8-1 lead. New Athens accomplished their four-run flurry on four hits, an error and a fielder's choice. One New Athens batter was also hit by a pitch as the New Athens Yellow Jackets secured their win.
It seemed as if Chester was finished, but in the bottom of the seventh inning the CHS Jackets showed life. Freshman, Marah Laramore reached base on balls and Megan Atchison got a hit to score Laramore. Ashley Lindsey struck out, then Rachel Sheely came to bat and reached base on a fielder's choice. Her smash also scored Atchison's pinch-runner making the score, New Athens 8-Chester 3.
Mollie Laramore was next to bat and she walked giving CHS two base runners. Next up was Taylor Crum who smashed a double scoring Sheely and Laramore. Chester trailed by only three runs, 8-5. With Crum at third and only one out, Coach Erin Oglesby had hope of a come-from-behind win.
Lauren Hoops was next at bat for CHS, but she grounded out to the short-stop giving Chester only one more out to produce three additional runs to tie the game. Chester's best hitter, Ashley Andrews, struck out to end the inning and the game, stranding Crum at third. New Athens won a non-conference game, 8-5, and ruined Chester's opportunity of getting their first win in nine games.
The disappointing loss dropped Chester to 2-13 overall. In her first game back since being injured against Nashville April 5, Megan Atchison struck out, popped up to the short-stop and got a base hit. For the game CHS recorded six hits, four singles and two doubles.