Sports : Vikettes slay Knights, 6-0; get back to .500 mark

Katie Henderson slides in safely under the tag for one of her three steals Saturday.

Vikette pitcher Maddie Cornell fires to first base as teammate Katie Henderson looks on.

Catcher Ashley Boyer settles under a pop-up in front of the Union dugout.

Brittany Robertson watches her first inning single head into the outfield.

LA PORTE CITY – The Vinton-Shellsburg Vikettes put together another solid performance Saturday night, getting back to the .500 mark on the season with a 6-0 victory over the Union Knights.

The night was planned as a doubleheader, a deluge between games washed out the nightcap. The teams hope to make up the game later in the season.

The Vikettes (4-4 overall and 2-4 in the WaMaC) got another strong performance from freshman hurler Maddie Cornell and the offense heated up with a 10-hit attack, led by the top of the batting order.

Lead-off hitter Katie Henderson, number-two hitter Ashley Boyer and number three hitter Brittany Robertson had two hits and two runs scored each to pace the Vikettes. Boyer and Kaley Womochil drove in two runs each, and Henderson stole three bases on the night. Womochil also had two hits.

The Vikettes got on the board in the first with a two-out mini-rally. Robertson singled, and Ashley Strong followed with a double to right, that scored Robertson and gave the Vikettes a 1-0 lead.

While the Knights touched Cornell for two hits in the bottom of the first and had her on the ropes in the third with a hit and two errors, that would be the end of the Knight offense for the game. She would retire the last 14 batters of the game.

And in the fifth, the Vikettes bought Cornell a little insurance. Henderson was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, then stole second, and Boyer followed with a single up the middle that brought Henderson home.

Robertson followed with a walk and she and Boyer both moved up when Strong grounded out to short on a close play. Womochil then stepping and ripped a double to right center that scored both runs and gave the Vikettes a 4-0 lead.

It would stay that way until the seventh. Henderson led off with an infield hit, then stole second. Boyer stepped up and crushed her third triple of the season into the right field corner to score Henderson. Robertson followed with a perfect sacrifice bunt that brought home Boyer.

Cornell struck out eight and did not walk a batter, as she moved to 3-2 for the year.

The Vikettes have a busy week ahead of them. Tonight they are on the road at Center Point-Urbana for a twinbill, beginning at 6 p.m. Tuesday, it is off to Belle Plaine for a pair with the Plainsmen. Wednesday, the Vikettes return to Thole Field for a WaMaC JV/varisty date with Dyersville Beckman.

Thursday it’s on the road again with a JV/varsity test against Mount Vernon (ranked number 3 in the State in 2A). The busy week closes out Saturday with the 2010 Vikette Invitational.