LINDEN -— Southmont softball has been the team to beat in Montgomery county for nearly a decade. Saturday featured the first county softball matchup of the season when those Mounties traveled to take on North Montgomery. South’s offense has really been finding its stride and Saturday was no different as the Mounties downed their county rivals by a final score of 34-2 in five innings.
Southmont scored six runs each in the first, second, fourth, and fifth innings and coupled that with a 10-run third. Their offense tallied 24 hits as for the fifth consecutive game they scored at least 10 runs.
“We brought a really good intensity today with it being county rivalry,” Southmont coach Dan Taylor said. “At the end of the day it was just our day with the ball just falling our way. WE had over 20 hits yet again. The most important thing to me was we didn’t commit a single error. That’s something that we haven’t been able to say all year. Kyndale pitched great on the mound and all fell into place for us today.”
The Mounties (5-5 3-2 SAC) slugged four more home runs in the win. Dara Watson continued to hit the cover off the ball with two more home runs to bring her total to four this week (two against Frankfort). Kyndale Rice (4-4) and Catie Himes also went yard in the win. Jenna Grino went a perfect 5-5 with a pair of doubles and three RBI’s, Watson batted in six, Rice four while Himes and Kami Dinius each batted in three.
What plagued the Chargers (1-9 0-5 SAC) in the loss was their nine errors in the field. Charger coach Rob Earley knows that’s where the issues began on Saturday in the loss. He also did note how offensively he’s seeing his team come around;
“We have to be quicker defensively at every position,” Earley said. “Quicker front to back, left to right all of it. It’s something that we’ve gone over in practice, during games, and after the games too. It’s all about our first step towards the ball. Offensively this is the most talented I’ve had here at North. We don’t give up when we’re at the plate and that’s what I really like about this group.”
The Chargers had four hits. Piper Ramey, Cascie Keller, Jaymie Freeman, and Hope Delp all had one each. The Chargers got their two runs in the second.
Southmont with the win now has won four straight after a 1-5 start. Taylor adds how the winning streak has been all about his girls just feeling confident in all facets of the game.
“The good old saying is good hitting is contagious,” Taylor said. “I think once a couple of our girls started to hit well it had an effect on our entire team. Every single girl who steps up to the plate is confident that they can produce.”
North Montgomery will be back at home on Monday when they take on North Putnam (9-5). The Chargers then take on Frankfort Tuesday and Wednesday in Sagamore Conference play.
Southmont will also be at home on Monday when they welcome the Covington Trojans (5-5). The Mounties will have county rival Crawfordsville this week in SAC play as they look to close in on the county title.
