Four straight blowout losses to Salem, Ava and Bourbon twice left Steelville High School’s softball team with an 0-11 record on the season.

The Lady Cardinals lost the quartet of games by a combined score of 82-4 and have fallen in all of their games by at least 10 runs. The Red and White played Bourbon as a part of its regular season schedule on April 20 and in the April 25 Salem Softball Classic. Steelville has four regular season games remaining, in hopes of getting into the win column at least once for first year head coach Jessica Eichholz.

One of Steelville’s bright spots has been junior Gracie Mae Boone, who was selected to the Salem Softball Classic All-Tournament team. Boone leads the Lady Cardinals with a .474 batting average and a team-high five extra base hits.

Steelville will have their next opportunities to pick up a win on April 28 in Potosi and at home on April 29 against Kingston. The Lady Cardinals will play at St. Genevieve and in Bismarck on May 1 and 2, respectively before wrapping up their regular season at home on May 5 in a rematch with Bismarck. All games are scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. The Lady Cardinals will then compete in the Class 2 District 3 tournament, which spans from May 7 to May 14 in Potosi.

Lady Cards get demolished by Bourbon

First inning troubles continued to doom Steelville High School’s softball team. The Bourbon Lady Warhawks plated 14 runs in the first inning and 10 in the second inning en route to a 27-2 win over Steelville in three innings.

The Lady Cardinals were held hitless, but showed patience at the plate, walking five times. Gracie Mae Boone walked twice and Hayleigh Parrett and Lizzy Warden each drove in a run for Steelville. Kaylee Pitts started on the mound for the Red and White, striking out three Lady Warhawks in an inning and a third before Warden came on in relief and got the final out in the second inning. Parrett pitched the third and final inning, striking out one on 21 total pitches.

Bourbon had four players collect multiple base hits, led by sophomore Ella Biles who had four hits, three runs batted in and scored four times. Lady Warhawk senior pitcher Annalise Gobin hurled a pair of hitless innings, striking out five Lady Cardinals to earn the victory.

Steelville falls to Salem

The Lady Cardinals played the next day in Salem and saw similar results against the Lady Tigers. The early inning woes continued for Steelville, as Salem poured in 11 runs in the first and six in the second to pull away with a 17-1 victory in three innings.

Pitts took the mound again and fared slightly better than the day before, but five errors from her teammates in the field proved costly, leading to 10 unearned runs throughout the game. Pitts hurled two innings, striking out four Lady Tigers in the loss.

Boone collected two of Steelville’s three hits at the plate, doubling twice and driving in Pitts for the Lady Cardinal’s lone run of the game. Freshman center fielder Aribella Parker singled for Steelville’s only other hit of the game.

Salem freshman pitcher Madison Mercer tossed all three innings, striking out six and sophomore shortstop Jaelyn Chartier tripled and drove in five runs to lead the Lady Tigers.

Cards drop pair of games in Salem Softball Classic

Steelville traveled to Salem on April 25 to compete in the Salem Softball Classic. The tournament was originally supposed to span two days, but was moved to a one-day tournament due to inclement weather.

The Lady Cardinals fell 22-0 to eventual tournament champion Ava High School, before losing 16-1 to the eventual consolation championship winner, Bourbon. Both games concluded after three innings due to the run rule.

Steelville was held hitless against Ava, before collecting a pair of hits against Bourbon. Nikki Jensen and Aribella Parker collected the Lady Cardinals base hits and Kaylee Pitts drove in Jensen for their lone run.