JAMESTOWN - It took Jamestown's offense an inning to get started, but when the Lady Eagles did, they didn't let up on their way to a 13-3 win against California in five innings on senior night.
Jamestown honored nine seniors after the game, which made up its entire batting lineup.
"It's been my absolute pleasure to coach these girls," Jamestown head coach E.H. Hirschvogel. "They have left a great legacy for their younger teammates and for the program down the road. I just can't say enough great things about them."
California got the offense going in the top of the first inning, taking the 1-0 lead on three hits. With one out, Jenna Reynolds tripled to left field then Bethany Stuedle singled to score the run.
Jamestown looked ready to match California in the bottom half of the inning, putting runners on the corners with no outs. MacKinzie Strother hit a ground ball to the third baseman, who fired to first for the first out, then first baseman Sam Beckham threw home to get the runner trying to score.
The Lady Eagles didn't get a run home in the first inning, but scored 13 runs in the final four innings.
"If not for coaching error in the bottom of the first inning, we probably would have scored a couple of runs," Hirschvogel said. "I made a call to send somebody (home) and California made a heck of a double play. If I had held her there, maybe we could have had something happen. Who knows, maybe we wouldn't."
In the second inning, Jamestown's Emily Scheperle led off with a walk, then a Alli Muri singled, two outs and a walk later, Mickayla Strother hit a shot over the center fielder's head for an inside-the-park home run.
Jamestown's field doesn't have a portal fence that most schools use for softball games on baseball fields, so they're playing with the same fences the baseball team uses.
"Honestly, not as many as you'd think," Hirschvogel said when asked how often it happens. "We've seen a couple in the last couple of games we've had here, because what usually happens is the teams play their outfielders so deep."
Jamestown scored four runs in the inning to take the 4-1 lead.
The Lady Pintos wouldn't counter until the fourth inning, cutting the Lady Eagles' lead to 6-3 after Jamestown scored two more in the third inning.
Britani Allee started the top of the fourth with a single, then Destiny Cook was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. After the next two California batters grounded out to the pitcher and popped out to the shortstop, Paige Johnson delivered with a two-run single.
"I was proud of their performance tonight," California head coach Darrell Bolin said. "The scoreboard doesn't show much, but we left a lot of runners on base. We just needed a key hit."
Johnson was 2-for-3 from the plate with two RBI and Allee was 2-for-3 with a run scored.
"(Alle) had a really good game," Bolin said. "She's come a long way than when we started. She's always making contact with the ball, always making good plays in the outfield. As a freshman, she's really earned her spot."
In Jamestown's half of the fourth, they Lady Eagles batted around for the second time in the game. They plated five runs in the inning to push the lead to 11-3. The first five Jamestown batters got on base and scored.
"I thought we hit the ball well, played defense well and pitched pretty well," Hirschvogel said. "You do that, you're going to win a lot of ball games. Credit California, they came out swinging the bat and forced us to play. We just responded well to that."
California's game with the School of the Osage Tuesday didn't make press time, but the Lady Pintos will host Hallsville Thursday at 5 p.m.
The Lady Eagles and Versailles will play Friday at 5 p.m. in Jamestown.