From top to bottom, East Grand Forks Sacred Heart softball coach Mike Marek has been confident in the strength of his lineup this season.
The Eagles reminded him why on Thursday, scoring 11 runs in the first inning en route to a 15-0 victory over East Grand Forks Senior High.
Sacred Heart improved to 15-2, while Senior High dropped to 4-14.
"We had a lot of energy," Marek said. "Sometimes it takes us until the third inning to really get going, but today we came out quick."
The Eagles sent 14 batters to the plate in the first, and they didn't waste many at-bats. Tia Klein, Morgan Kaiser and Tracy Roach each had singles to start the inning. Darcy Roach ripped a double to right field to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead.
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Both Karissa Hanson and Kristin Stinar added RBI singles, before Klein returned to the plate for the second time in the inning and singled in another run to make it 8-0. Klein went 3-for-4, scoring each time she reached.
Tracy Roach capped the inning with a triple, knocking in three runs to make it 11-0. She finished 3-for-4 with five RBIs.
However, Sacred Heart didn't need a lot of runs since Darcy Roach pitched five scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out 10.
"Obviously the first inning killed us," Senior High coach Heidi Spicer said. "You can't fall behind when they have a pitcher like that. It's hard to start making up runs when you're in that position."
Klein started another spree for the Eagles in the third inning, bunting for a single. Kaiser followed with a single and the Roach sisters added back-to-back RBIs.
"When we get those first few batters on base, it gets everyone else going," Marek said. "When Tia gets on base, she usually ends up on third before you know it."
The Green Wave tried to answer in the fourth inning when Karly Nelson led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. But Darcy Roach shut the door, striking out two of the next three batters.
With the Section 8A playoffs beginning next week, Marek still saw room for improvement.
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"With all the games that we've had jammed in this season, sometimes it's hard to evaluate where you're at," Marek said. "I think we still need to make some improvements defensively to get where we want to be."
