Fatima softball tops Capital City 10-0 in five innings

Players warm up at Vogel Field Monday, Sept. 16, 2019, as Capital City hosts Fatima in softball.
Players warm up at Vogel Field Monday, Sept. 16, 2019, as Capital City hosts Fatima in softball.

The Fatima Lady Comets took care of business Monday, while the Capital City Cavaliers took another learning step as a first-year program.

Fatima scored four times in the third inning and five times in the fifth in defeating Capital City 10-0 in five innings at Vogel Field.

"This is good for us because we see what we need to be like as team," Capital City coach Brett Skinner said. "We're young, inexperienced and we played a good team in Fatima. You're going to see a quality team when you play them."

Fatima's offense got going after it made some adjustments at the plate.

"I told them to scoot up in the box, put the ball in play and see if we can put some pressure on their defense," Fatima coach Dana Scheppers said.

The Lady Comets hit the ball hard throughout the lineup in the final few innings.

"I hope we can continue, we're going to have to with our schedule," Scheppers said.

Fatima scored without the benefit of a hit in the top of the first inning.

Londyn Stuckenschneider led off with a walk before Chayce Gier laid down a bunt. The throw to first got away for an error as Stuckenschneider came all the way around to score.

In the third, Anna Eichholz was hit by a pitch with one out. Stuckenschneider then blooped a single to short left field before a wild pitch advanced the Fatima runners to second and third. Gier then walked to load the bases.

Karli Struemph and Allyson Havens followed with singles that plated a total of four runs.

Capital City had chances to score in the third and fourth innings.

Lindsey Rosslan was hit by a pitch with one out in the third before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hannah Weaver. Maysen Kerr then reached on an error to put runners at first and second before a strikeout ended the threat.

In the fourth, Camryn Sharp led off with Capital City's first hit, a shot off the fence in left for a double. One out later, Jaiden Kausler singled to put runners at the corners before Karoleena Juarez reached on catcher's interference to load the bases.

But Gier got a strikeout and a grounder to third to get Fatima out of the inning.

"We did a good job of getting runners on, we need to do a better job of getting them in," Skinner said. "We work on it every day in practice and we're going to keep working on it."

Fatima scored five times on three hits in the fifth, with three of the runs coming home on errors.

"We've got some injuries and some girls playing out of position and defense is something we need to work on," Skinner said.

Lauren Brandt had an RBI single in the fifth for Fatima, while Chesney Luebbering drove home a run with a double.

Geir finished with a two-hitter to get the win, striking out five and not allowing a walk.

"Chayce is doing a great job in the circle," Scheppers said. "She mixes it up well and keeps team off-balance. Our defense is solid and she's confident in them.

"I can see her improving every game."

Olivia Wood went the distance for Capital City. She allowed allowed six hits and four walks while recording seven strikeouts.

"She threw five games over the weekend, but she's a competitor and she wanted the ball," Skinner said. "That's a good hitting team she faced today."

Fatima (4-3) will face Tuscumbia today before playing Friday and Saturday in the Lady Jays Classic.

Capital City (3-6) will play Saturday at the Owensville Tournament.