Vandalia had lost three straight at home, but on Thursday they dropped their record down to 7-18 to make it four. They came up short against the Southwestern Piasa Birds, falling 14-3. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Vandals of the 19-0 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in April of 2024.
Vandalia saw two different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Mady McCall, who went 1-for-3 with one stolen base and one RBI.
As for Southwestern, they are on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 15 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-5-1 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games.
On Southwestern's side, Grace Strohbeck spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered three earned runs on three hits.
On the hitting side, Madison Fenstermaker and Vivian Zurheide did most of the damage at the plate: Fenstermaker went 3-for-5 with four runs, two triples, and one RBI, while Zurheide went 3-for-4 with three runs, two doubles, and one stolen base. Those four runs gave Fenstermaker a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Sydney Valdes, who went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.
Coming up, Vandalia will look to defend their home field on Friday against Odin/Patoka/Sandoval at 4:00 p.m. The Vandals will need to watch out since the Eagles have now posted at least ten runs in their last three contests. As for Southwestern, they will face off against Columbia at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The Eagles' pitching crew has only allowed 2.2 runs per game this season, so the Piasa Birds' hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
