Riverside’s softball team picked up a pair of wins Saturday to win its own fourteam tournament.

The Pirates opened the day with a 6-0 win over Botkins and then clipped Indian Lake 2-1 in the championship game.

Riverside’s Chelsea Purtee lays down a bunt during the Pirates’ game Saturday against Botkins. EXAMINER PHOTO | MATT HAMMOND

Indian Lake's Kerstin Harmon swings at a pitch Saturday during the Lakers' softball game with Jackson Center at Riverside High School. EXAMINER PHOTO | DOUG LOEHR

“We obviously feel very good about the way we played in the tournament,” said Riverside head coach Rod Yoder. “It is great for us to get a big win against a good team like Indian Lake.”

The Pirates are now 10-4 on the season and the Lakers are 9-4.

In Riverside’s win over Botkins, Sara Emerich fired a two-hitter with seven strikeouts.

Leading the Pirates’ offense were Abby Heaberlin (two doubles, two RBI), Megan Leiss (two doubles), Erica Snapp (two hits, two RBI) and Sarah Schindewolf (two hits).

In the championship game win over the Lakers, Riverside set the tone with two runs in the first inning. Indian Lake’s lone run came in the seventh.

“We scored early in both games and we felt that if we played well defensively and Sara continued to pitch well, that those runs would hold up,” said Yoder. “Fortunately for us we were able to get out of a seventh-inning jam against Indian Lake.”

Emerich was stellar again in the pitching circle as she scattered five hits and struck out five. She did not walk a batter all day.

Heaberlin had a double and RBI, Brittany Shough had two hits and Emerich added an RBI single to pace the Riverside offense.

“Emerich did a nice job of keeping us off-balance and we could not get our hits (to) find the gaps till late in the game,” said Indian Lake head coach Scott Cramer. “I was proud of the girls for battling back against a very solid Riverside team.”

Kayla Thieman had an RBI single to lead Indian Lake’s hitting attack against the Pirates.

Jill Wildermuth struck out nine and tossed a two-hitter for the Lakers against Jackson Center.

Chelsey Hoyles was 3-4 with two RBI and Brittany Golliday was 3-4 to spark the Indian Lake offense against the Tigers. Also for the Lakers, Thieman and Kerstin Harmon each went 2-3.

“In the Jackson Center game we did a nice job of being patient and putting a few hits together,” said Cramer. “Jill also had a nice outing on the mound.”

Both teams are back in action today. Riverside is at Ridgemont and Indian Lake travels to Urbana.

RIVERSIDE 6, BOTKINS 0
Trojans 000 000 0 — 0 2 3
Pirates 400 002 X — 6 10 1
Klopfenstein and Shaffer; Emerich and Schindewolf. WP—Emerich; LP—Klopfenstein.

INDIAN LAKE 6, JACKSON CENTER 0
Tigers 000 000 0 — 0 2 3
Lakers 300 003 X — 6 13 2
Gates and Himmeger; Wildermuth and Golliday. WP— Wildermuth; LP—Gates.

RIVERSIDE 2, INDIAN LAKE 1
Lakers 000 001 1 — 1 5 1
Pirates 200 000 X — 2 5 2
Wildermuth and Golliday; Emerich and Schindewolf. WP—Emerich; LP—Wildermuth.

Tigers win two

West Liberty-Salem’s softball team continues to roll along. The Tigers knocked off Mason 11-6 and they tripped up host Kettering Fairmont 7-3 in a three-team tournament Saturday.

The Tigers are now 13-1 on the season.

In the win over Mason, Emily Detwiler was the winning pitcher. She scattered seven hits and struck out two.

Abbey Ledford went 3-4 with a home run and Kaitlyn Kite was 3-4 with three RBI to spark the Tigers against Mason. Emily Detwiler was 3-4, Kate Detwiler was 3-3 with two doubles and two RBI and Andrea Markin and Alyssa Neff each had two hits for the winners.

The Tigers then handed Fairmont its first loss of the year. Detwiler went the distance in the pitching circle to record the win. She allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out five.

Offensively for the Tigers, Kayla Peterson was 2-3, Kite had a solo home run and Abbey Ledford added two RBI.

WL-SALEM 11 MASON 6
Comets 020 000 4 — 6 13 1
Tigers 210 152 X — 11 18 1
Miller and Engelman; Detwiler, Neff (6) and Hickenbottom, Kite (6). WP—Detwiler; LP—Miller.

WL-SALEM 7, FAIRMONT 3
Tigers 001 023 1 — 7 9 4
Firebirds 002 100 0 — 3 7 1
Detwiler and Hickenbottom; Walk and Schnarr. WP— Detwiler; LP—Walk.