Seniors lead La Salle-Peru past Rochelle on senior night

LA SALLE – On a blustery afternoon, the La Salle-Peru softball team welcomed the Rochelle Hubs, and as it should be on senior day, the Cavaliers were led by their three seniors.

Each of them played significant roles in the Cavs’ 14-2, five-inning Interstate 8 Conference victory.

Maddy Pangrcic had an RBI double to kick off the scoring, Cassidy Anderson had a big game with a single, double and a pair of RBIs, and Paige Kirkman singled and scored twice to pace the Cavaliers’ attack.

“Our three seniors are our glue,” L-P coach Randy Huebbe said. “They led us and have each had great seasons and great careers really.”

The game began with L-P pitcher Ava Lannen (5 IP, 2 R, ER, 2 H, 7 SO, 4 BB) allowing only a single to Lauren Dyer in the first, bringing L-P to bat in the bottom of the inning.

With one on and two outs, Pangrcic blasted her double to key a two-out rally, which saw the Cavs use consecutive hits from Lannen, Anderson and Callie Mertes to score four runs.

Lannen notched three strikeouts in the second in her first varsity start.

“For the first time in the circle on this level, she did a great job, and the defense was there tonight to back her up,” Huebbe said. “Good defense and timely hitting like we had tonight will win you a lot of ballgames.”

In the bottom of the second, Izzy Pohar rapped a solid single to lead off, but Dyer got the next three hitters and stranded Pohar on third base.

After Rochelle went down in the top half of the third, the Cavaliers’ offense came back to life when Lannen, Anderson and Mertes each logged her second hit of the game to help L-P extend its lead to 7-0.

The Cavs weren’t done yet, as run-scoring hits from Avah Moriarty and Taylor swelled the L-P lead to 11-0 heading to the fourth.

The Hubs got on the board in the fourth when Jordin Dickey walked and came around to score on a pair of wild pitches.

With the score 11-1, L-P added some insurance in the home half of the inning with Moriarty and Martyn doing most of the damage with RBI singles before Kirkman finished the scoring for L-P with a solid RBI single.

In the fifth, Rochelle was able to manufacture a run before Lannen closed the door.

“It was a good win,” Huebbe said. “With the conditions we have had this year, we haven’t played as often as we would have liked, and some games like tonight have been in tough weather, and to the girls’ credit they have played well and have been getting better each time out. That is the goal, to be playing our best at the end or the year.”