East Peoria, Ill. -
Kiersten Manning pitched not just one, but
two gems to propel the #4 seeded ICC softball team to 4-0 and 3-2 wins over #5 seeded Lincoln Land in Region 24 quarterfinal action on Wednesday night at Thome Field. Manning, a freshman from Normal Community, pitched two complete games, fanning eleven Loggers in Game 1 and five more in the nightcap to advance the Cougars to Saturday's semi-finals in Danville. ICC will play #1 Danville with the game time yet to be determined. #2 Parkland will face off against #3 Spoon River in the second contest in the double-elimination tourney.
"Kiersten was a warrior," head coach
Heather Doty said. "Our defense was really strong behind her and we had timely hitting to get the wins. We're really proud of our kids for their effort and are looking forward to the weekend."
Savanah Clifton (Clinton HS),
Olivia Drish (Rockridge HS), and
Alyssa Heerman (Limestone HS) provided the Cougars' RBI in the games as Clifton had three, Drish two, and Heerman one.
Game 1 | ICC 4, Lincoln Land 0
Manning was the story from start to finish as she yielded just four LLCC hits and had two strikeouts in each of the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th innings for her total of eleven K's.
She also got the offense going with a lead-off single in the bottom of the second inning followed by a
Priscilla Peek single, and then a Heerman RBI single. After a Logger error allowed a run to score, Clifton smashed an RBI double to right field giving ICC a 3-0 lead.
The Cougars put another run on the board in the bottom of the fourth when Peek reached on an error and advanced to third on a single by Heerman. Peek scored on a dropped third strike as ICC went up 4-0. From there, Manning and the defense took care of the rest.
Clifton went 2-3 (double, single) and Heerman 3-3 (all singles) to pace the offense.
Game 2 | ICC 3, Lincoln Land 2
The phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applied to Game 2 as Doty stayed with Manning on the mound.
The Cougars again scored first with two runs in the bottom of the second as Clifton and
Olivia Stirnaman walked and then scored on a two-RBI double by Drish.
In the bottom of the third, Heerman bagged a double and scored on a Clifton single as ICC went up 3-0.
Manning ran into trouble in the top of the sixth, giving up a two-run homer as Lincoln Land pulled to within 3-2. Manning got recollected and closed out the sixth and then induced three popups/flyouts in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Heerman went 1-3 (double), Dirsh 1-3 (double) and Clifton 1-2 (single).
Next up: The top four seeds all advanced to this weekend's Final Four at Danville on Saturday. A complete bracket with dates and times will be shared once it becomes available.
Saturday, May 7 at Danville - Times TBA
(1) Danville vs. (4) Illinois Central
(2) Parkland vs. (3) Spoon River
Region 24 Softball Tournament Quarterfinal Results from May 3 & 4
(1) Danville over (8) Lewis & Clark 3-2 and 7-2
(4) Illinois Central over (5) Lincoln Land 4-0, 3-2
(3) Spoon River over (6)Heartland 4-3 (8 innings) and 9-4
(2) Parkland over (7) John Wood 12-0 and 8-0
Game 1 ICC Box Score
Game 2 ICC Box Score
