photo by: Kim North

John Marshall’s Lily Dijkstra delivers a pitch to home plate during Friday’s game with Brooke. She picked up the win, striking out six and walking one in five innings as the Monarchs prevailed, 9-2.

WELLSBURG – Although it was a dreary Friday afternoon with overcast skies and intermittent rain drops, it didn’t tarnish John Marshall’s softball season-opener.

The visiting Monarchs snapped a 1-all deadlock with six runs in the top of the fourth inning and coasted from there in a 9-2 victory that kept the Bruins (0-2) winless on their brand new turf diamond.

“I thought we played as well as we could for the opening game,” John Marshall head coach Rob Blake said. “We hit the ball a little bit and made some plays in the field. I thought our catcher, Riley Polsinelli, was outstanding”

Wildness from inside the circle and some fielding miscues spelled disaster for the Bruins during the fateful fourth. Nora Shock, Erica Seidler and Emma King drew consecutive walks to start the inning and end Eden McKinney’s start. Avery Rado relieved but hit Tessa Dougherty with her first pitch to force in a run. Winning pitcher Lily Dijkstra followed with a run-producing base-on-balls. Aubrey Lilley sent a pinch-hit single to center to make it 4-1, but when the ball was misplayed another run scored and Lilley ended up on third. Masyn Inclan reached on an error as Lilley raced home with the fifth run of the frame. Kaylee White doubled Inclan to third from where she scooted home on Ella Finley’s sacrifice fly.

“They had a big inning that we couldn’t recover from,” Brooke head coach Tom Diserio said. “That’s all it took.”

That was all Lily Dijkstra and Gracie Seidler needed as they teamed on a six-hitter. Dijkstra picked up the win with six strikeouts and a walk in five frames. Seidler struck out two and issued a free pass.

“I thought our pitchers did very well,” Blake said.

Lilley (single, triple, RBI), King (single, double) and Elaina Taylor (2 singles) had six of the Monarchs’ eight hits. Dijkstra helped herself with two runs batted in, while Inclan knocked in another.

“This group of girls can all hit,” Blake said of his team. “I’m really excited about our season. If we keep getting better and better, I think we can make some noise.”

According to Diserio, there were two bright spots for the Bruins on an otherwise dismal afternoon. The game went the full seven innings and Emma Teller had half of Brooke’s six hits – all singles. Emma Bober belted a run-scoring triple that tied the game at 1 in the second inning.

“In the past years John Marshall has been a formidable opponent, so to be able to go the full seven innings was a small victory for us,” Diserio said. “Emma is just a freshman, so this was a big game for her. She swung the bat well.”

John Marshall is scheduled to host Fairmont Senior Saturday in a doubleheader, starting at 1 p.m. Brooke, meanwhile, welcomes debuting St. Clairsville for two games, also beginning at 11 a.m.