Lady Raiders sweep Kankakee in home debut

The Three Rivers Lady Raiders softball team broke out of its recent scoring slump in a big way Tuesday afternoon.

The Lady Raiders scored 16 runs — 11 in one inning — and pounded out 18 hits as they rolled to a 16-1 win against the Kankakee (Illinois) Cavaliers in the first game of a doubleheader at J.D. Rains Field.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak that saw Three Rivers get shut out in its previous two games at a tournament in Oxford, Alabama Feb. 24 and 25.

The Lady Raiders then downed Kankakee 10-9 in eight innings in the nightcap to complete the sweep.

In the second game, Three Rivers (8-5) rallied three times to pull out the win, including a 7-3 deficit midway through the fifth inning.

“It was good,” Three Rivers coach Jeff Null said of winning the home opener. “Our first (few) games have been on the road early in the year … playing tough competition. We came out and played well Game One,” and “it was nice to pull out a W” in the second game after a slow start.

Trailing 9-8 in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lady Raiders tied the game and forced extra innings when Natalee Moore stole home on a double steal.

With the score still tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, Karlye Happold doubled home A.J. Agers with the winning run to complete the sweep.

“It was a nice tough win in Game Two — great team effort,” Null said. “Both our pitchers struggled in Game Two. Thankfully our offense picked us up in Game Two. Sometimes it’s better to win ugly.”

Trista Grobe and Alyssa Bastien each had three hits to lead the offense in Game Two, while Happold and AnnMarie Simpson each had a pair. Bastien dove in a pair of runs, while she, Grobe and Kyla Puckett homered.

Moore also stole three bases in the win.

Agers earned the win in the nightcap, allowing three runs and six hits in five innings of work.

The Lady Raiders were up 5-1 going to the bottom of the fourth inning when they broke loose for 11 runs.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Grobe singled home Lexi Davis to make it 6-1 and open the scoring in the inning. Audrey Rahlmann's deep sacrifice fly scored Morgan Courtney, then Puckett scored on an error to make it 8-1.

Singles by Alaney Moore and Jessica Hulsey scored Grobe and Josie Bezzole and extended the lead to 10-1, then Bastien singled home Alaney Moore and made it 11-1.

However, the inning's big blow came when Karlye Happold hit a grand slam that made it 15-1 in favor of Three Rivers. Alaney Moore then capped the rally with another single that plated Grobe.

Meanwhile, Lady Raider hurler A.J. Agers was dominant in the pitcher's circle, allowing just one run, one hit and one walk in four innings of work while striking out two. Makenna Moore tossed a scoreless fifth to wrap things up.

Moore had four hits and drove in three runs in the opener, while Grobe had three hits and the quartet of Happold, Puckett, Davis and Hulsey each had two. Happold drove in four runs, while Puckett drove in three.

The Lady Raiders will be in Evansville, Indiana for three games beginning Friday. The first will be against Wabash Valley, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. Friday.