By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON, La. — Ruston High (5-3) held on in a wild game Thursday night to win 16-15 against the Lakeside Warriors (9-2) in a midweek matchup, thanks in part to two homers by freshman Aubrey Stoehr in the same inning.
“We started explosive and changed our mindset to get on base then any ball in the hands of the defense that could be pushed we did,” Ruston High head coach Lauren Garvie said. “Stoehr starts off hitting a home run dead center on a 2-strike at bat and then we just kept going. The girls did a great job tonight. I’m proud of seeing adversity and calming themselves down to push through. As much as we don’t want to throw that many pitches, it’s good for our girls to know they can.”
After getting down 3-0 in the top of the first, Stoehr hit her first shot in the leadoff spot over center field for a 1-0 lead. Senior Morgan Foster added an RBI single two batters later to score senior Rilee Atwood from second base to cut the lead to 3-2.
Senior Jaiden Feeheley added a two-RBI single into centerfield to score both Foster and junior Sage Tolar to give Ruston a 4-3 lead. Stoehr then took a bases-loaded grand slam over left field, putting Ruston up 8-3 after scoring Feeheley, sophomore Grace Underwood and senior Abby Holton.
Lakeside added two more runs in the top of the second to cut Ruston’s lead to 8-5. Ruston responded with a four-run inning in the bottom of the second, starting with a one-out single by Feeheley to left field to score Foster. Underwood singled two batters later to score Feeheley, and an errant throw at the plate scored both Holton and freshman Skylar Bowers, giving Ruston a 12-5 lead.
The Warriors would tie the game 12-12 after one run in the third, three in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Feeheley responded in the bottom of the sixth on a one-out line drive single to centerfield, scoring Bowers. Freshman Annaliese Doss singled in the next at-bat to score Foster and give Ruston a 14-12 lead. Holton then singled to score Feeheley, extending the lead to 15-12. Finally, Underwood flew out to center field to score Doss and put the Lady Bearcats up 16-12.
Lakeside rallied to cut the lead to 16-15 before the final batter grounded out to Stoehr at shortstop to end the game.
Ruston is scheduled to return to action today against Calvin at 4:30 p.m.
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