Lady Knights Come Up Short

The lost a close battle in an intense pitching duel with the Sunlake Lady Seahawks in Tuesday night's varsity girls softball game, falling 2-0.

Senior Lakyn Shull took the mound for the Lady Knights,and she held the Seahawks scoreless through six innings with twelve strikeouts and only one walk. However, it was Sunlake who would walk away victorious on Tuesday night, and it was Shull who is credited with the loss, despite a determined effort.

“(Shull) did an outstanding job. (Sunlake) is a good hitting team, and she kept them off balance. For the most part, Lakyn had a great game,” said Knights Head Coach Ernie Beck.

Opposing pitcher Tyler Riendaeu had her change-up working well, which had the Knights batters out in front of the ball all game and held River Ridge to only five hits. However, Riendau let six runners on board freely with walks.

Of those five hits for the Knights, junior Nikki Case was responsible for two of them going 2-3 on the night. Freshman Megan Tolle went 1-2, with one hit and two walks and occupied a base the most for the Knights.

Beck said he’d take the same approach as tonight with Sunlake, if there’s a next time, except “get the key hits, and not get outs.” The Knights had the bases loaded, as well as held scoring positions in other opportunities but failed to come through, “and (Sunlake) did,” Beck stated. “They got the hit when they needed it.”

River Ridge plays Palm Harbor University in their next game, Friday, March 25. The Knights will be looking to avenge this loss, and you can bet they’re going to be hungry to get another shot at Sunlake. But that will have to be determined in the district playoffs, with this game being the only regular season matchup on the year.