Three down, one to go.

Friday, May 25, 2001

Three down, one to go.

That’s the tally for the Lyle/Pacelli softball team, which has accomplished three of four goals it set at the beginning of the season. The latest came as a West Sub-Section 1A tournament title, thanks to a workmanlike 4-0 victory over Kenyon-Wanamingo Wednesday night at Todd Park in Austin.

Kari Leif went 4-4 with four singles, scoring L/P’s first and last runs as the lead-off hitter determined to get things going for the team that bats behind her.

"It’s up to me," Leif said. "They know that if I can get on, they can do it too. As long as I can get it going."

And that she did. Leif reached with bunt singles in all four plate appearances, including the first which eventually amounted to the game-winning run in the bottom of the first inning. After Louise Mudra walked, both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by winning pitcher Amy Bickler. Leif scored on a wild pitch, and after another walk issued to Jonie Sheedy, Buffy Judd drove in Mudra with a groundout to the right side.

Lyle/Pacelli added solo runs in the second and sixth innings. Brienna Enfield stroked a change-up for a single to lead off the second, and later scored on a safety squeeze by Jenna Baumann. Leif singled and scored on an error in the sixth.

Enfield was 2-3, and Leif, the offensive catalyst, had half of her team’s eight hits. Mudra and Erin Evans each had singles as well.

Bickler was not as dominant as in the past, but that comes with the competition. Kenyon-Wanamingo, whose 10-10 record entering the game may not have stacked up to Lyle/Pacelli’s near-perfect 19-1, locked in on Bickler and put the bat on the ball all night long.

The Knights forced L/P’s defense to make the plays, which for the most part they did. Especially behind the plate, where Judd stunned Kenyon-Wanamingo’s sixth-inning threat by diving into the fence to nap a pop-up in foul territory. The Knights got a one-out double from shortstop Shannon Kiffmeyer, but her pinch-runner was stranded at second after a pair hustling catches by Leif and Judd. The L/P battery of Judd and Bickler did not allow a pitch to hit the backstop, while the defense made 18 of 19 plays sent its way.

Kenyon-Wanamingo freshman Kristina Lurken had two of her team’s three hits, including a two-out double in the fourth.

Call Ross Thede at 434-2234 or e-mail him at sports@austindailyherald.com.