Monroe City earns shutout win versus Louisiana

Emily Freidank went 3 for 4 with two doubles and four RBI to lead the Lady Panthers to a 10-0, six-inning win against Louisiana on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at Lions Club Field.

The victory snapped a three-game MCHS losing streak.

Pitcher Lucy Pratt scattered two hits over five innings with 10 strikeouts and two walks. The Lady Bulldogs’ Mattie Chandler stroked a first-inning single. Allison Jenkins added an infield-single in the fourth.

Audri Youngblood relieved Pratt in the sixth inning and struck out the three Louisiana batters she faced on 14 pitches.

With cancellation of the Louisiana Tournament on Saturday, Sept. 24, the Lady Panthers had not played a game in nearly a week.

“You know, sometimes you just need to re-group, re-fresh,” MCHS head coach Melissa Chinn said. “I thought every aspect of our game looked very good. Our defense was good, our pitching, of course, was very strong, smart base running, and it was good to see those bats working when they needed to be.”

Freidank was happy to see the team right itself after consecutive road conference losses to South Shelby, Centralia and Brookfield.

“We’ve been in a slump and we’ve been losing games that, in my opinion, we should be winning,” the senior catcher said. “Coming out with a win, a big win like that, I think will boost everyone’s confidence.”

Monroe City (8-7) scored four times in the third inning.

Chandler, Louisiana’s freshman pitcher, issued a one-out walk to Youngblood who promptly stole second base. Pratt ripped a 3-2 pitch into the left-field corner for an RBI triple. Pratt scored on a Cahlin Chapman ground out.

MCHS added two more with two out. Following Belle Clark’s single to center, Freidank smacked a run-scoring double to the corner in left. Freidank stole third base, then scored on a Louisiana error.

Monroe City added four more runs in the fifth.

Pratt led off with a single and stole second. With one out, a Clark single to left moved Pratt to third.

The right-handed hitting Freidank then stepped into the batter’s box for the third time against Chandler.

“If the ball is outside I’m going to try to go with it; take to it to right, but she was pitching me inside all night long,” Freidank said.

Following a Clark stolen base, the Hannibal-LaGrange University signee pulled an inside delivery into left-center field for a two-run double giving MCHS a 6-0 lead. Abigail Smith drove home Freidank with an RBI double to left. Smith advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on Perri Dimmitt’s RBI single to center.

The Lady Panthers received back-to-back walks to begin the sixth inning. Pinch-hitting for Chapman, Ava Yutzy hit into a fielder’s choice to score Youngblood. After a walk to Clark, Freidank ended the game by 10-run rule with an RBI single to center that plated Pratt.

Monroe City finished with nine hits. MCHS had six stolen bases, Freidank and Youngblood with two each.

With the loss, Louisiana dropped to 7-9. Chandler yielded five earned runs. She had four strikeouts and five walks; three in the sixth inning.

The Lady Bulldogs have no seniors on their roster. Head coach Kelsea Calvin’s starting lineup consisted of three juniors, four sophomores and two freshmen.

“We’ve talked all season about boosting morale. It’s just a mental toughness thing,” Calvin said. “We’re young and I’m not using it as an excuse, but we’ve got to be mentally tough about certain situations. It’s going to come with experience and, hopefully, this is one of those games that’s going to teach us mental toughness."