Boone Central won 4-of-5 games on the diamond this past week, boosting its 2023 season record to a robust 12-4.
Boone Central extended its winning skein to seven games with an 11-3 five-inning victory over visiting O’Neill Tuesday, Sept. 5. The Cardinals grabbed an early 3-0 lead in the first inning, pounced for six and a 9-0 lead in the third, and was never seriously threatened after that.
Boone used some O’Neill largesse in the bottom of the first. Ava Duerksen drew a one-out walk and scored on Mazie Beister’s single after a stolen base and wild pitch. Beister stole her way around the bases, and home, to make it 2-0 and Payton Sullivan boosted the early edge to 3-0 by walking, stealing second base, then taking third and home on wild pitches. The Cardinals delivered the coups de grace with the six-run third. Consecutive one-out singles by Beister, Sullivan, Kali Simons and Carlie Langan put two more runs on the board and preceded Averie Luettel’s three-run home run blast.
The Cardinals continued to protect their home field Thursday with a well-played 4-1 decision over Logan View/Scribner-Snyder at the Albion Sports Complex. With the score knotted 1-1, Boone tallied three runs in the bottom of the 5th to earn the W.
Miranda McGill led off the 5th with a double and Braylee Young quickly drove her in with another double. Young scored on Ava Duerksen’s one-out single and Mazie Beister drove in the final run with a base hit.
Beister was sterling on the mound, gaining the win by allowing just 3 hits and striking out 6 batters.
Boone fell behind early and could not rally in a 9-4 loss to Class B York (9-7) in the opening round of Saturday’s Lakeview Invitational at Columbus. One big inning haunted the Cardinals, as York pounced for 7 runs in the 3rd with just 4 hits. The Dukes also had 4 walks in the frame and a batter hit-by-pitch. Beister took the loss, ceding 8 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks. Sullivan had 2 of Boone’s 6 hits, driving in 2 runs.
The Cardinals bounced back in consolation play, defeating Highway 91 (4-11) for the third time this season (15-4, 4 innings). Boone trailed 4-3 when Kali Simons’ 3-run home run sparked a 9-run second inning and 12-4 Card lead. Sullivan had a solo shot in the 3rd and Boone wrapped up the victory with 2 in the 4th. Luettel was the winning pitcher, allowing 6 hits and 4 unearned runs while fanning 3 batters.
Boone Central capped the weekend with a solid 7-3 victory over Mid-State rival Pierce (8-8). Simons and Young had triples, and Luettel a double, as the Cardinals took a 4-0 lead in the 2nd inning. Boone protected that edge with single runs in each of the final 3 innings, with Carlie Langan contributing a triple and run in the 3rd, Cadence wood an RBI single in the 4th and Luettel a run-scoring base hit in the 5th. Luettel was again the winner, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 6 walks. She struck out 3. Luettel also finished 2-for-3 at the plate with 3 RBI.
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