Jackson softball run rules Perryville on senior night

The Jackson Indians softball team defeated the Perryville Pirates 19-0 in three innings on Thursday in the Jackson City Park. Jackson jumped out to a 15-0 nothing lead in the first and added on four more in the second before sending the Pirates back out to sea.

The starting pitcher for Perryville, Kylee Stortz had trouble finding the strike zone which resulted in eight walks and three runs off wild pitches. 10 different Indians crossed the plate and nine players had at least one RBI. Seniors Ella Mangels and Riley Parker each led Jackson with three RBIs, Mangels with a base-clearing double in the first.

As it was senior night for the Indians, Mangels said she was proud of her performance but also gave credit to her teammates.

“I’m very proud because it doesn't just take one girl, I have people in front of me who did their job of getting on and I had people who did their job of getting me in,” Mangels said. “I'm so proud of everyone.”

Senior Kameryn Tucker and sophomore Joselyn Sauerbrunn each had two RBIs off a double and single, respectively. Five other Indians added in one RBI apiece, with plenty of run support starting pitcher senior Zoe Flath did not have a tough day in the circle.

“I knew that even if they do hit the ball, my defense is gonna back me up no matter what, and especially on senior night I knew they weren't gonna let me down,” Flath said. “Our offense was great, we stayed in our zone and made sure that the pitcher threw strikes. I had no worries.”

Jackson head coach Shawn Wilding spoke of how much the five seniors have meant to the Indians softball program.

“Seniors are always special on senior night, we always try to play them from start to finish and they got to play start to finish. It was pretty quick work at night tonight but they got at least three bats,” Wilding said. “I've had them all for four years and they’re all special.”

Jackson will participate in the Notre Dame Showcase this weekend while Perryville is off until Tuesday when they host Sikeston at 4:30 p.m.