By TYLER HENRY
Lead Sportswriter - Salina Post
The Sacred Heart softball team handled their business with Ell-Saline on Monday, sweeping the Lady Cardinals at Bill Burke to improve to 11-5 on the year.
Game One: Sacred Heart 7, Ell-Saline 4
The opener of this two-game set saw back-and-forth action early, but once Brynn Bechard got going in the circle, it was game, set, and match.
Ell-Saline jumped on Bechard early, plating three runs in the top of the first to take the early lead.
Bechard wouldn’t allow another hit for the rest of the game, setting down 18 consecutive batters until a seventh-inning walk broke the stalemate.
At the plate, the Lady Knights went to work undoing the damage, scratching across four runs in the second, three in the third, and four in the fourth to take and hold a 7-4 lead.
All nine spots in the Sacred Heart order reached base at least once, with Kerrigan Thompson and Ariana Rivas each reaching base three times.
Bechard concluded her outing allowing just four runs, only two of which were earned, on two hits, walking two and striking out seven.
Game Two: Sacred Heart 12, Ell-Saline 2
The latter of these two games was far from close, with the Lady Knights taking an early lead and never looking back.
Once again, Ell-Saline scored first, this time on a Bret Hecker RBI single, but the lead was short-lived as Sacred Heart scored two runs in the second, four in the third, two more in the fourth, and three in the fifth to end this game early.
The Lady Knight lineup turned in strong performances from top to bottom, with eight different members plating a run.
Kerrigan Thompson had the game’s loudest hit, raking a three-run inside-the-park home run in the third inning to put an exclamation point on a big day at the plate.
Bechard took to the circle in game two and picked up right where she left off, allowing just two runs in five innings of work.
With this sweep, Sacred Heart improves to 11-5 while Ell-Saline slides to 6-10.
You can watch both of these games on-demand any time below.