Rams’ offense powers them to big win over Bernie

SCOTT CITY - A high-powered offensive outburst led the Scott City Rams to a 16-6 win over the Bernie Mules on Monday at Scott City High School.

After putting up a zero in the top of the first, the Rams went to work quickly on offense as they jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning.

“I felt like we were ready to go,” Rams coach Alexis Atchley said. “We did what we needed to do defensively by not letting them score in the first inning and then coming in and putting up runs.”

After the Rams had a 6-0 lead heading into the top of the 4th, the Mules fought back as they scored 2 runs of their own to cut into the lead.

Scott City would score 4 in the bottom of the 4th to lead 10-2 as play entered the fifth inning but the Mules had another response in them as 4 runs crossed the plate to get the lead back to 4.

“We had a few walks and things kind of went (Bernie’s) way,” Atchley said. “We’ve always had confidence in our hitting. We’ve been a really good hitting team.”

The Rams put an exclamation point on the scoreboard in the home half of the 5th as they plated 6 runs to end the game with a 16-6 win.

Olivia Ponder went 2-for-4 with 5 RBIs and 2 runs scored in the win for the Rams.

“She’s a tough out,” Atchley said. “She has quite a few walks (because) she’s a tough out and people don’t like to throw to her.”

Gracie Karrenbrock finished the game 2-for-2 with 2 walks and 3 RBIs for the Rams while also having a nice game behind the plate at catcher.

“She’s definitely stepping up,” Atchley said. “This is her third year so I think it’s starting to come naturally to her at the plate. She’s done really well.”

For Bernie, Mikalyn Kirkwood went 2-for-3 at the plate with 3 RBIs in the loss.

Bernie (2-6) will be back in action at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11 when the Mules host Holcomb.

Scott City (6-3) will be back in action at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11 when the Rams travel to take on district opponent West County.

“Our biggest mentality is to make sure we do what we need to do on the bus ride there,” Atchley said. “Our biggest thing is we don’t want to drive all that way and then not get off the bus. We need to get off the bus and do what we need to do.”