Published: April 18, 2008 11:36 pm         

Thunderbirds’ Marts throws shutout for Class A No. 8 North Central

MARSHALL, Ill. — North Central concluded a 3-0 week in high school softball Friday, defeating host Marshall 12-0 for its eighth victory of the season.

Junior Keshua Marts hurled a four-hitter to improve her record to 3-0.

North Central, ranked No. 8 in Indiana’s Class A poll, scored all the runs it needed in the second stanza when the first two batters walked and Katie Brown’s hard-hit ball was erred at third base for the first run. Nicole Miller made it 3-0 with a single.

The Thunderbirds plated four runs in the fourth frame with Megan Stone driving in a pair. She also had two RBIs with a double in North Central’s five-run fifth as rain started to fall in Illinois.

Stone, Brown and Miller each finished with two hits apiece and Miller drove in three runs.

Coach Lela Earley said her team was more “fundamentally sound” in Friday’s game. “We had too many errors against White River Valley [on Thursday],” she said.

“We did a nice job of adjusting to the Marshall pitcher and ran the bases very well. We got contributions from everyone in the lineup,” Earley added.

Marshall loaded the bases with one out in the third stanza, trailing just 3-0, but Marts got out of the jam to preserve the shutout and allowed just one baserunner the rest of the way.

Marshall has a young team with just one senior in the starting lineup. “We started two freshmen tonight,” said coach Bob Gard.

North Central has a key Tri-River Conference game at Clay City on Monday and plays host to Princeton on Tuesday. Clay City has received votes in the Class A poll and the Tigers are ranked eighth in the Class 3A poll.



North Central 030 45 -- 12 11 0

Marshall 000 00 -- 0 4 3

Marts (W, 3-0) and Porter; Reynolds (L) and Lyon.

Next games — North Central (8-1) is at Clay City on Monday. Marshall (2-6) goes to Edwards County the same day.