NTL SOFTBALL: SAYRE BUILDS BIG LEAD EARLY; HOLDS OFF CANTON FOR 16-11 SEASON-OPENING WIN (19 PHOTOS) (2025-03-18)
Valley Sports ReportCANTON — Sayre scored 10 runs in the top of the third inning to take a 14-run lead, then held on for a season-opening, 16-11, win over Canton here Tuesday afternoon in NTL softball action.
"Raegan Parrish deserves a medal," said Sayre coach Matt Senese. "She pushed through for the complete game, and battled through the good and the bad.
"She only walked five and fought non-stop," noted Senese.
"Both teams hit very well it was a highly-competitive game at the very end," said Senese. "We had some very hard-hit balls — some fell in and some were hit right at the defense.
"I'm very happy with what I saw today," he added.
The Redskins took the lead immediately on a one-out single by senior Raegan Parrish, who took second on a wild pitch, and an RBI single by junior Rylee Lantz.
A bases-loaded walk to sophomore Mikyah Brown, and a wild pitch gave Sayre a 3-0 lead after the first half-inning.
Parrish ripped a two-RBI double in the top of the second to make it 5-0, but Canton answered with a run in the home half to close the gap to 5-1.
Brown led off the top of the third inning with a single, and scored on a ground out off the bat of freshman Paige Secrist to make it 6-1.
Errors and walks helped the Redskins extend the lead to 10-1, before Brown's two-out, two-run single made it 12-1.
Secrist made it 13-1 with an RBI single, and junior Olivia Thompson capped the 10-run outburst with a two-run double to make it 15-1.
The Warriors started their comeback with three runs in the home half of the third to close the gap to 15-4, but the Redskins answered with a run without the benefit of a hit in the top of the fourth when Lantz was hit by a pitch, stole second, took third on a groundout, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 16-4.
Canton avoided the 10-run rule with six runs in the bottom of the fourth to close the gap to 16-10, and drew within one run, at 16-11, with a run in the fifth.
After the Redskins left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning, Parrish pitched around an error in the bottom of the frame.
Canton loaded the bases with one out in the home half of the seventh, but Parrish snagged a line drive up the middle and tossed it to senior Abbie McGaughey at third for a game-ending double play.
Parrish doubled and singled, scored two runs, and had two RBI, while Brown singled twice, scored two runs, and drove in three runs, Secrist singled twice, scored twice, and knocked in two runs, and Lantz singled twice, scored three runs, stole two bases, and drove in one run to pace Sayre's 11-hit attack.
Thompson doubled, scored two run, and drove in two runs for the Redskins, while McGaughey singled, scored two runs, and had one RBI, freshman McKenna Parrish singled and scored two runs, and senior Emily Chilson crossed the plate once.
Raegan Parrish earned the win, allowing six earned runs on eight hits, while striking out five and walking five in seven innings.
Sayre returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts NEB.
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IN PHOTO 1: Sayre's Raegan Parrish. IN TOP PHOTO: Sayre's Abbie McGaughey. ... PHOTOS BY CHRIS MANNING.
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