Conant has it all in 9-0 win over Larkin

Conant's softball team was pretty good with the leather and the aluminum in a 9-0 nonconference win at Larkin on Tuesday.

The Royals hit some balls hard right at Cougar fielders. And when Larkin hit balls in the gaps, the Cougars went and got them anyway.

Offensively, Conant (7-0) found all the holes, banging out 15 hits. Hilary O'Donnell had 3 hits, Paige Ward drove in 4 runs, and Allie Bauch scored 3 times. Six Cougars had at least 2 hits.

Defensively, the Cougars seemed to run down everything, with O'Donnell showing some range in center field and shortstop Bauch tumbling backward into the outfield while holding onto Megan Johnson's popup in the sixth inning.

"I saw them warming up and I thought, 'Here we go,' " said Larkin coach Larry Hight. "Those outfielders are like college outfielders."

Larkin hit some balls hard and only struck out 4 times.

"Those girls like to run out there," said Conant coach Cathy Smith. "We have a quick outfield. We have a lot of motivation this year. It's a do-or-die thing. They know that they need to make the plays and get out there and they have to do something when they're up to bat."

Kailee Pasbrig went the distance in the circle for Conant, allowing 6 hits.

Lexi Smithberg and Anna Esterino had 2 hits apiece for the Royals.

"Even though we got beat that bad, I saw improvement," Hight said. "There is improvement out there, and only a coach knows that. That's all you can ask for at the beginning of the year."

Conant jumped on top with 2 runs in the first inning, then broke it open with 3 more in the third. Ward's 2-run single to right-center was the big hit.

Kim Jacobson had a 2-run single to key the Cougars' 3-run seventh inning.