Indian Lake’s softball team got the 2009 season off to a good start Monday as the Lakers cruised past visiting Upper Scioto Valley 25-0 in five innings.

Indian Lake’s Cori Blackburn tags out an Upper Scioto Valley player during their season opener Monday at Indian Lake High School. Blackburn went 3-4 with a home run to help lead the Lakers to their win. EXAMINER PHOTO | AARON LaBATT

Indian Lake took a 3-0 lead after the first inning and then racked up 15 runs in the second inning to take control early on.

“This was a nice start to the season,” said Indian Lake head coach Scott Cramer. “I was glad to see Jill and Caitlin come out and take control of the game on the mound.

“We had been struggling a little offensively in our scrimmages, so it was nice to see the girls put some hits together and score some runs.”

The Lakers piled up 25 hits for the game and had a host of offensive leaders. Kerstin Harmon and Kayla Thieman each went 3-3 with two doubles to spark the offense.

Also aiding Indian Lake were Kaylyn Wright (3-3 with a double), Chelsey Hoyles (3-4 with a triple), Cori Blackburn (3-4 with a home run), Brittany Golliday (2-2 with a double), Alyssa Wies (2-2 with a double), Becca Cooper (2-2) and Whitney Hollon (two hits).

Indian Lake is back in action Thursday in non-league action at Waynesfield-Goshen.

INDIAN LAKE 25, USV 0 (FIVE INNINGS)
Rams 000 00 — 0 0 5
Lakers 3(15)3 4X — 25 22 1
Anderson and Jenna; Wildermuth, Jordan (3) and Harmon, Roby (3). WP—Wildermuth; LP—Anderson.

Triad opens up with win

Triad lost a large portion of its starting lineup from last season, but the Cardinals’ softball team was impressive in Monday’s season opener.

The host Cardinals rolled to a 10-0 five-inning win over Graham in non-league action.

Senior standout Morgan Ryan threw a one-hitter with five strikeouts to power the Cardinals’ win.

“Morgan threw really well,” said Triad head coach Shari Dixon. “She was strong the whole game.

“We were playing on our new field and it was nice to get a win under our belts. The girls struggled a little with the bats early on, but buckled down as the game went along.”

Kelsey Funderburgh powered Triad by going 3-3 with two RBI and Addie Dixon went 2-3 with two RBI.

Triad hosts Mechanicsburg today for an Ohio Heritage Conference game.

TRIAD 10, GRAHAM 0 (FIVE INNINGS)
Falcons 000 00— 0 1 5
Cardinals 002 53— 10 9 1
Heckman and Flower; Ryan and Graves. WP—Ryan; LP—Heckman.

Lima Bath clips WL-Salem

West Liberty-Salem’s softball team came up a little short Monday as the Tigers lost 3-1 to host Lima Bath in non-league action.

“We played a very good team,” said WL-Salem head coach Lanay Detwiler. “We need to execute better offensively. We need to learn from this loss and go on.”

Bath led 3-0 after four innings. The Tigers scored their lone run in the sixth inning.

Kaitlyn Kite led WL-Salem’s efforts, going 2-2 with a double. Abbey Ledford went 2-4 with a double and Becka Peterson added a triple.

Emily Peterson recorded three strikeouts with one walk in the pitching circle.

WL-Salem hosts Springfield Catholic Central today in an Ohio Heritage Conference matchup.

LIMA BATH 3, WL-SALEM 1
Tigers 000 001 0— 1 6 1
Wildcats 101 100 X— 3 6 1 E.
Detwiler and Hickenbottom; Snyder and Sanders. WP— Snyder; LP— E. Detwiler.

Urbana edges Riverside

A late rally by Riverside’s softball team was not enough to catch host Urbana on Monday as the Pirates fell 2-1 in a non-league matchup.

The Hillclimbers scored runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 2-0 lead. RHS added a run in the top of the seventh inning, but the Pirates fell a run short.

“The pitching and defense were very good by both teams,” said Riverside head coach Rod Yoder. “I was happy with the way we played against a very good Urbana team. Neither team got a lot of hits, but that was due to the excellent pitching by Sara (Emerich) and Urbana’s Pittsenbarger.”

For Riverside, Emerich had two hits and Sarah Schindewolf had a double with an RBI.

The Pirates host Bradford today in a non-league meeting.

URBANA 2, RIVERSIDE 1
Pirates 000 000 1 — 1 5 0
Hillclimbers 001 100 X — 2 6 0
Emerich and Yoder; Pittsenbarger and Keller. WP— Pittsenbarger; LP—Emerich.

Wapakoneta downs Raiders

Host Wapakoneta collected 11 hits en route to a 9-0 win over Benjamin Logan in a non-league softball game Monday.

The Raiders had one hit on the day. It came on a single from Denay Schneider in the seventh inning.

“They had two pretty good pitchers,” said Ben Logan head coach Ron Smith. “When we did hit the ball hard, we hit it right at them.”

The Redskins jumped out with four runs in the first inning.

“We had three walks, an error and a wild pitch in the first inning and that was tough to overcome,” said Smith. B

en Logan is back in action Wednesday at home against Ridgemont.

WAPAKONETA 9, BEN LOGAN 0
Raiders 000 000 0 — 0 1 3
Redskins 400 023 X — 9 11 1
Kerns, Goodrich (5) and Schneider, Cronkleton (5); Place, Whetstone (5) and Springer. WP—Place; LP—Kerns.