STERLING – The United Township softball team took a one-run first-inning lead in Game 1 of its Monday doubleheader against Sterling, but the Golden Warriors never flinched, rattling off 11 straight runs to down the Panthers 11-1 in five innings of Western Big 6 conference play.

After scattering three hits in the top of the first inning, Sterling senior pitcher Elizabeth Palumbo dialed in for the next four, earning four strikeouts and conceding two hits, before the Warriors exploded for six runs in the fifth inning to close the door on UT.

“I feel like I’m always nervous the first inning, especially because we’re home,” Palumbo said. “But I feel like if I keep getting help, like when we started hitting, it really helped. And I do trust my defense a lot, so I knew they had my back if they got a hit.”

[ Photos from Sterling vs. United Township softball ]

The Panthers struck right away in the top of the first, as leadoff hitter Kaylie Pena grounded a single past second and Addie Griffith flew a one-out single to right field. While Katie Fox was up to bat, Pena capitalized on a catcher pickoff attempt, stealing home for a 1-0 lead.

Up next, Fox singled to right. With two runners on base, Tiana Casas skipped a ground ball to third, but Ellie Leigh fielded it cleanly, tagged out Griffith at third, and threw out Casas at first to complete the double play.

“She literally saved that,” Palumbo said. “I was so nervous, because obviously, there was a runner on third, and I just knew I had to keep it off the plate, so I pitched it and then Ellie tagged her, and I was like, ‘Yes!’ And then I had no idea she was gonna get her [at first], but yeah, that was really good.”

“It was a really good play,” Sterling second baseman Carley Sullivan added. “It helped our team, especially getting the second out, especially with it being hot outside. It helped a lot.”

The Warriors wasted no time taking the lead in the bottom of the first, plating two runs in the first three at-bats. Lauren Jacobs flew a single to right as the leadoff, Katie Dittmar flew a triple to right, rolling a ball past the right fielder to bring in Jacobs for the tying run, and Palumbo capped the two-run inning with a groundout to first, scoring Dittmar for a 2-1 Sterling lead.

In the top of the second, Palumbo struck out all three batters she faced, then the Warriors expanded their lead to 5-1 with a three-run third inning.

Palumbo got the ball rolling with a one-out double deep into left, then Sienna Stingley flew another double to left to bring her home. Leigh drew a walk next, Stingley and Leigh stole second and third during Marley Sechrest’s at-bat, and Sechrest hit a two-run double off the left-field fence to plate Stingley and Leigh.

“I think when we start hitting like that, it helps the team a lot,” Palumbo said. “We just come together, and we have more motivation to do better in the field, too, because we’re up by so much. I feel like once we start hitting, we all come together, and then it makes each other want to hit more.”

Said Sullivan: “Having extra runs helped our confidence, because we don’t feel as worried throughout the whole game.”

In the bottom of the fifth, the Panthers committed five errors, and the Warriors capitalized with six runs to finish the game.

Palumbo led off the inning with a ground ball to second, reaching first with the help of a bobbled ball. Stingley was hit by a pitch next, and Leigh singled to right, bouncing a ball off an outfielder’s glove to load the bases. A wild pitch during Sechrest’s at-bat scored Palumbo, then Sullivan hit a two-run single to right, plating Stingley and Leigh. Georgia Gallardo singled to third to bring Sechrest home, and an error attempting to throw her out at first allowed Sullivan to score on a delayed steal for a 10-1 lead.

Nevaeh Frey singled to third next, and Jacobs snuck a grounder between second and short to drive her in with the game-ending run.

Palumbo went the distance for the win, striking out five, walking two, and allowing five hits and zero earned runs.

“She did very well. She pitched a very good game,” Sullivan said. “Not a lot of balls in the outfield, so it helped our team out a lot.”

Leading hitters for Sterling were Palumbo, who went 2 for 3 with one RBI; Sullivan, who went 2 for 3 with two RBIs; Jacobs, who went 2 for 4 with one RBI; Sechrest, who went 1 for 2 with two RBIs; and Frey, who went 2 for 3.

Pena, Fox and Sydney Dobbles each went 1 for 2 to lead UT hitters.

“Defense [was the biggest difference]; we didn’t play any,” United Township coach John Alonzo said. “That’s pretty much it. If we don’t score enough runs, we gotta be really solid defensively, and we weren’t that in the first game.”

In the nightcap, Sterling scored four runs in the fifth and seven in the sixth to pull away for an 18-2 victory. Jacobs went 3 for 5 to lead the Warriors’ 13-hit attack, and she also had three RBIs and scored three runs. Stingley had two hits, three RBIs and two runs scored, Palumbo had two hits, two RBIs and three runs, and Sechrest had two hits, drove in two runs, and scored twice.

Julia Thormeyer had two RBIs, and Leigh drove un a run and scored three times. Dittmar scored twice.

Stingley went the distance in the circle, allowing two runs and six hits, with 10 strikeouts.