The recent slide by the West Prairie/Southeastern softball squad continued this week.
The Cyclones dropped a 10-3 non-conference road contest at Camp Point Central and 11-0 to West Hancock at Hamilton before losing a 16-4 six-inning affair to Prairieland Conference foe Havana in their home regular-season finale.
The Cyclones have lost their last 11 contests since beating South Fulton 8-6 back on Apr. 14.
In Wednesday’s game against Havana, WP/SE jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning against the visiting Ducks. Kenadie Webster led off with a single against Havana starter Shelby Hill and advanced to third on a one out base hit by Tegan Rigg.
Adriana Starks drove in Webster with a two-out single before Hill got Arianna Soule on a ground ball to short to escape further damage.
Soule once again got the start in the circle for the Cyclones and the freshman held Havana in check until the top of the third.
Western Illinois University signee Kaydi Miller led off with a home run over the center field fence to tie the score at 1-1. Madolyn Howerter lined a one-out double, but Soule retired Karlie Hurst on a popup to third where Starks made a diving catch for the second out.
But Jenna Brooks hit a ground ball that found its way through the infield for an RBI-single giving the Ducks a 2-1 lead.
The Cyclones answered in the bottom of the third when Rigg drilled a two-out homer to make it 2-2.
Havana grabbed control in the fourth as it exploded for eight runs in taking a 10-2 lead. Miller had a two-run triple and Brooks delivered a two-run single to key the rally.
WP/SE would cut the deficit to 10-4 in the bottom of the fifth thanks to RBI doubles by Webster and Rigg.
Starks, who came on in relief of Soule to start the fifth and kept the Ducks off the scoreboard, struggled in the sixth and Havana capitalized on seven walks in the inning to score six runs and extend the lead to 16-4.
Hill was the winning pitcher for Havana after going six innings and allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out 10.
Rigg, who needed a double to hit for the cycle, led the Cyclones by going 3-for-3 with a home run and a triple and driving in three runs.
“It was good to see her swing the bat well,” said Rigg of his daughter who is only a junior. “She had a couple of games where she was pretty frustrated. It’s good to see that when she gets frustrated, she goes right to the hitting cages. And that’s the right mentality to have.”
Webster scored twice and went 2-for-3 with a triple and an RBI as Webster and Rigg accounted for five of the team’s seven hits.
Miller led Havana by going 2-for-3 with a triple and a home run and also drove in three runs as the Ducks improved to 11-6-1 for the season and 6-1 in the conference.
The loss dropped WP/SE to 2-19 overall and 1-6 in the Prairieland.
After committing 10 errors in the loss to Camp Point Central last Monday, Rigg was still finding some positives in his young team’s performance.
“Just three errors tonight is one of our lowest of the season,” said Rigg. “You’d still like to have fewer than that when you’re talking about a team like Havana, who can put the bat on the ball and hit the ball hard. Sara Shelton made several really nice plays and a diving catch early on and Adriana made a really nice diving play at third. All in all, you’ve got to be happy with that performance.”
The 11-0 loss to West Hancock on Tuesday followed a disappointing defensive performance one night earlier against CPC.
The host Panthers scored twice in the first and three more in the third to take a 5-0 lead before the Cyclones responded.
WP/SE pushed across three runs in the top of the fourth to get within 5-3 but Central (7-11) would pull away from there with five runs over the final three innings as the Cyclones’ defense struggled by committing a season-high error total for the game.
Webster accounted for two of the Cyclones’ four hits in the contest and also drove in a pair of runs.
“Defense was not good,” said Rigg. “But once again, some bright spots. Just need more consistency.”
Against West Hancock, the Cyclones were held to five hits as the Titans scored five runs in the opening inning before scoring twice in each of the next three innings on the way to securing the run-rule win.
Addalyn Syanberry had two hits, while Kenda Nelson, Tippey and Morgan Simmons added one hit apiece.
Soule pitched two innings, allowing seven runs, five earned, on five hits. She struck out one, walked three and hit a batter.
Starks pitched two innings, allowing four runs, zero earned on one hit. She struck out one and walked three.
West Hancock improved to 14-7 on the season.
On Thursday, WP/SE was scheduled to play its fourth game in four days to close out the regular season with the Cyclones traveling to Farmington to face the Farmers (9-12, 5-2 Prairieland) in another conference matchup.
