The Mt. Zion Braves used timely hitting and aggressive baserunning to defeat Taylorville 8-4 on Wednesday night. Mt. Zion finished with 10 hits and scored in four different innings to pull away late.
Taylorville jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning after RBI hits from Grace Rogers and Kenzley Heimsness. Rogers led the Tornadoes offensively, going 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, and 2 RBIs.
Mt. Zion answered immediately in the bottom half of the first. Addison Rotz scored on an error before Chloe Williams drove in a run with a groundout to cut the deficit to 3-2. Rachel Besser later came home on a fielder’s choice to tie the game.
The Braves grabbed the lead in the second when Ellie Green launched a solo home run to center field. Later in the inning, Chloe Williams added an RBI single to make it 5-3.
Mt. Zion extended the lead in the third after Kinley Paradee ripped an RBI double to right field, scoring Savannah Beiler. The Braves added another insurance run in the fifth before Williams delivered another RBI single in the sixth to push the lead to 8-4.
Williams finished with 3 RBIs while Addison Rotz went 3-for-4 and scored three runs. Ellie Green added a homer and RBI, and Kinley Paradee collected a double and RBI.
In the circle, Nikki Ellegood earned the win for Mt. Zion, allowing just one hit and one run over five innings while striking out six in relief.
Top Performers
- Grace Rogers (Taylorville): 2-for-3, HR, 2B, 2 RBI
- Addison Rotz (Mt. Zion): 3-for-4, 3 runs
- Chloe Williams (Mt. Zion): 3-for-4, 3 RBI
- Ellie Green (Mt. Zion): HR, RBI
- Nikki Ellegood (Mt. Zion): Win, 5 IP, 1 H, 6 K
#15 Kinley Paradee with the RBI double for Mt.Zion
#26 Grace Rogers hits a homer for Taylorville.
#23 Olivia Levault with the nice catch in center for Taylorville.
#17 Carsen Corzine with a smooth single up the middle for Taylorville.
#10 Nikki Ellegood with the strikeout for Mt.Zion.
#20 Chloe Williams with a deep double into left field for Mt.Zion
#26 Grace Rogers hits a ground rule double for Taylorville.
#4 Addison Rotz hits a deep double off the fence for Mt.Zion.
#27 Peyton DeMichael with a nice single into center for Taylorville.
#8 Ellie Green crushes a homer into center for Mt.Zion.
#24 Kenzley Heimsness with an RBI single for Taylorville.
#20 Chloe Williams with a nice RBI single for Mt.Zion
#2 Neveah Wiley with the great catch or Taylorville.