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Gaels topple Greene County

St. Edmond head softball coach Nick Clark summed it up best Thursday.

“It was just a weird night,” Clark said after his 11th-ranked (Class 1A) Gaels scored a 6-2 victory over Greene County.

Coming off a showdown with North Central Conference rival Humboldt, St. Edmond (15-6 overall) was able to get back in the win column at Rogers Park.

With the chance of more rain hitting the area, the start time for the contest was moved up 90 minutes. And while Clark didn’t want to use that as any kind of excuse, he was proud of his squad for rallying after sporting the Rams a 2-0 lead.

“With all the rain we’ve been getting, it’s been hard to plan anything,” he said. “At the last minute, the umpires, Greene County’s coaches and myself all decided we should start the game early. We didn’t come out ready to go and (the Rams) took advantage.”

Ella Vratny issued walks to the first two batters and three total in the inning, as Greene County plated a pair of runs on a single by freshman Danielle Hoyle. But from there, Vratny settled down, tying her career-high with nine strikeouts. She also had just two walks after the first.

“We put a lot of pressure on Ella to continually come out and throw innings,” Clark said. “She had some troubles there in the first, but after that, she really came into her own and pitched one of her best games of the year.”

Erin Flattery was 2-for-3 with a run scored, Jacque Oberg plated two runs with a single in the first, and Macey Mason had two runs and a stolen base. Rylee Kinney and Chloe Lewison each drove in a run during the sixth.

St. Edmond jumped right back on Greene County’s Samantha Hardaway in its half of the first, as Audrey Kolacia reached on an error, with Flattery adding a base hit. Jocy Timmerman also reached on an error followed by hits from Mason and Oberg to go up 4-2.

“That showed a lot of toughness to come right back and take the lead back,” Clark said. “We didn’t get down and instead, we got runners on and caused problems on the bases which led to runs.”

In the fourth, Vratny recorded four strikeouts as part of a stretch where she picked up seven strikeouts over three innings. The freshman has 25 strikeouts over her last four games.

The Gaels, who have won 11 of their last 14, host Clarion-Goldfield/Dows back here on Friday night beginning at 7:30 p.m.

ST. EDMOND 6, GREENE COUNTY 2

Greene County 200 000 0 — 2 5 3

St. Edmond 400 002 x — 6 4 2

WP–Ella Vratny (15-4, 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 9 K, 5 BB). LP–Samantha Hardaway (3-11, 4 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 K, 0 BB). RBI–GC: Danielle Hoyle (2); SE: Jacque Oberg (2), Rylee Kinney, Chloe Lewison. SB–SE: Macey Mason.

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