Jackson survives defensive battle at Notre Dame

The Jackson softball team reached 24 wins with a 2-0 victory over the Bulldogs of Notre Dame on Thursday at Notre Dame Regional High School. Stolen bases and a home run propelled the Indians to the win on the road along with defense and pitching preserving the shutout.

Senior right fielder Kaiden Weisbrod used her speed to steal three bases in the first inning, including stealing home to grab the early 1-0 lead. Sophomore left fielder Madalyn Stelling used a home run shot to left field in the fourth to put the game away, hitting a sponsor sign on its way out.

Jackson head coach Shawn Wilding said while it was not the offensive explosion they’re used to, you need close games like this to learn how to win them.

“Now we're finding out how to win when you're not at your best. That's where you find your character when things are not going right. Your pitching steps up, defense steps up, little things like Kaiden stealing three bases to get us going,” Wilding said. “You know you're gonna have to create like that to beat those good teams in districts and be at your best on defense, that's a good lesson to learn.”

Indians sophomore pitcher Ashlyn Dawes completed the full-game shutout and finished with a stat line of six strikeouts, three walks, just two hits and no earned runs. Wilding said the team knows they have pitchers who are always ready to go in tough games, especially when playing on the road.

“She was hitting those spots perfectly and we were very effective, we got lucky that it was the right recipe tonight. She and Zoe [Flath] know they’re gonna get the ball in these situations and they just have to step up and hit the spots that we call,” Wilding said. “But Dawes is a machine out there, that’s her twelfth win on the season.”

Jackson next will host Francis Howell Central on Saturday for a doubleheader at 10:30 a.m. and 12 p.m. at the Jackson City Park.