ALTAIR — The Columbus High School softball team defeated Rice High School April 7 at Lady Raiders Field in Altair by mercy rule with a final score of 18-0.
The Lady Cards put their hard hitting bats on display for the entire five innings and didn’t allow much of anything on defense, result- ing in a blowout victory.
“Practice,” said Columbus head softball coach Al- fred Rosa on how they've had so much success.
“The younger girls are sophomores, the ones that really carried us in this game. Got to see a lot of good softball last year. We went five rounds. It helps.
The experience they get. It’s their turn now and they’re just shining now.”
Columbus pitcher Emma Beauchamp had a very clean outing in the cir cle and also bombed two home runs at the plate.
“It was great because I just got back from being injured,” Beauchamp said. “It feels good.”
Even though it was a hitting fest for Columbus, Rice has some things to be optimistic about going forward.
“Columbus did really well,” said Rice head softball coach Camrynn Ziegler. “They’re a hitting team. Fundamentally, I think we need to lock in a little bit more. Continue to get better every day. Hon estly, the girls are growing individually and they're growing as a team. They came from losing to now winning a few games this season. We just got to keep building on that.”
Freshman pitcher Sierra Pena took the circle for Rice and Columbus didn’t waste any time putting runs on the board as they had a 5-0 lead in the top of the second inning.
They added to that lead in the same inning with Beauchamp's first homer and a double to left field from Peyton Drozd to make it 7-0.
The Lady Cards had a huge inning in the top of the third with a walk, two stolen bases, three base hits, a fielder's choice, and Beau champ’s second homer to take a commanding 14-0 advantage.
Columbus did the rest of their scoring in the top of the fifth inning with a base hit, four doubles, two walks, and two stolen bases to put it at 18-0.
They went on to close out the game on a line out to first base and two strike outs to win it by mercy rule in five innings at 18-0.
