Community R-6 didn’t have a bad inning Tuesday.

The Lady Trojans defeated Louisiana 7-5 at home thanks to the game-winning three-RBI home run hit by Brooklynn Glasgow, a 3-for-4 performance and three runs scored by Sarah Angel, two RBI from Jocelyn Curtis and seven innings with two earned runs tossed by Paige Painter. The victory is revenge for the 9-8 loss sustained by Community to these same Lady Bulldogs in a Round Robin on Saturday in Louisiana.

On Saturday, Community had a 5-3 lead early that slipped away after allowing six runs in two innings made possible by a few Lady Trojan errors. Community finished Tuesday with five errors but prevented Louisiana from scoring more than two runs in an inning with a few standout defensive plays, head coach Kody Asquith said.

“Tonight, we showed play on defense,” Asquith said. “We didn’t really have anything that got away from us, like we’ve had in a couple innings in the past this season. Every team is going to have those innings. We played pretty solid defense and we hit the ball pretty well. You have them nights where you can put both of them together and then you come out on top.”

Louisiana had already tied Community at 1 in the third inning and still had the bases loaded and nobody out. The Lady Trojans had committed two errors in the inning then played not only clean defense, but outstanding defense.

Angel fielded a ground ball before firing to the catcher Glasgow, who then quickly released the ball to third baseman Olivia Kuda to complete the play. The Lady Trojans loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third inning and had two outs with nobody across the plate still. Curtis found a hole to the right side to make it 3-1.

Another error gave Louisiana another run and put them in position to tie the game with a runner at third base. The Lady Bulldogs thought the fly ball was deep enough to center field, but Kayla Jett threw a strike to Glasgow, who then applied the tag for the double play.

“I would consider (the Jett outfield assist) a big momentum change early,” Asquith said. “I thought we’d come out on top anyways, but that pushed us over the top a little bit because that was a huge play.”

For the second straight inning, solid defense preceded solid offense. Angel picked up her third hit in four innings for the 4-2 Community lead, and Glasgow fired up the team for the second time by hitting a home run over the left field fence.

The home run was Glasgow’s first home run of the season and her seventh hit in the previous five games for a .350 batting average in that span. Asquith knew it had the distance but whether it would be counted as a home run was the question.

“There was no height to it at all. It was just a line shot,” Asquith said. “As it was flying, I’m like, ‘Man, I hope that doesn’t go foul’ because it was close to going foul, but it was a shot. She got a hold of the ball, and it went.”

Louisiana scratched across a couple in the sixth inning on an error and a jumping catch that second baseman Rylee Rafferty almost made, but the Lady Trojans clung to the lead this time.

The Lady Bulldogs (12-11) used their speed at the top of their lineup to make a last-ditch effort to score, putting the first two batters of the seventh inning on base as the leadoff hitter bunted her way on. Angel tossed a ground ball to Rafferty for an almost double play. With the tying run at the plate, Painter induced the ground ball, fielded it cleanly and took the out at first base on the way to the victory.

This week, it was announced that Community is the No. 3 seed in the Class 1 District 7 Tournament to be hosted by No. 2 seed, and the Lady Trojans’ opponent at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Class 1 No. 4 Silex. After Community played at Marion County (3-13) on Thursday for the regular season finale, Asquith said he likes where his team is after Tuesday’s win.

“I think we’re going to go into playoffs on a pretty good note despite the two losses we had last weekend,” Asquith said. “They were, in my book, good losses. We battled (Class 2 No. 5) Elsberry to a 10-inning game, lost by one run. Played Louisiana, lost by one run in that game. We countered that loss and got it back tonight.”

Community amps up offense in 12-1 win at Marion County

The Community R-6 offense was gradually building into its eighth win with double-digit runs.

The Lady Trojans won their regular season finale 12-1 in five innings at Marion County after tallying 13 hits, with five of them going for extra bases. It is the eighth time this season Community has reached double-digit runs to run-rule an opponent.

Kayla Jett continued her torrid October — 9-for-15 with nine RBI in five games — by finishing Thursday 3-for-3 with four RBI and a double. Olivia Kuda went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a triple, Jocelyn Curtis finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a triple, and Ivy Hays went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a triple.

Jett and Curtis singled to give Community a 3-0 lead before Jett cleared the bases with a double in the third inning. Three consecutive RBI hits by the Lady Trojans were extra base hits, starting with Hays’ triple, including Sarah Angel’s double and ending with Kuda’s two-RBI triple.

Curtis struck out five and allowed one run on two walks and two hits in five innings.
Community (12-12) goes into the Class 1 District 7 Tournament in Silex as the No. 3 seed and will face No. 2 seed and Class 1 No. 7 Silex (16-10) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.