Mendota softball blanks Dixon

DIXON – A few key mistakes cost the Dixon softball team dearly in a nonconference loss against Mendota on Tuesday afternoon at Reynolds Field.

Trojans pitcher Paige Manning took care of the rest.

Manning was in complete control, leading Mendota to a 7-0 victory. It did not count in the Big Northern Conference standings, as the league game was played April 30, an 8-6 win for the Trojans.

Manning allowed only five hits – all singles – and struck out 13 batters. The only threat she faced was in the fourth, when the Duchesess had runners on second and third with one out. Manning wriggled out of the jam by striking out Ava Valk and inducing a groundout from Holli Miller.

“My fastball and change-up were working, and then I’d throw some drop balls,” Manning said. “My change-up is what helped me the most today. It’s gotten a lot better. At the beginning of the season it wasn’t my best pitch, but now it’s gotten a lot better.”

Mendota (8-6) broke through for three runs in the top of the third inning with the help of some Dixon miscues. With one out, Duchesses first baseman Mallory Coley dropped a dropped third strike relay throw, allowing Zoe Finley to reach base.

Katie Jenner followed with a grounder to third base. It was gobbled up by Dixon’s Izzi McCommons, but she double-clutched on the throw and Jenner beat it out.

The next batter, Lauren Martin, hit a ground ball to Dixon pitcher Kierstyn Mays. She looked toward third to get the lead runner, Finley, only to have the third baseman McCommons away from the bag, loading the bases.

Mary Defore followed with a sharp single to plate Finley. With two outs, Jenna O’Donnell ripped a double that glanced off the glove of Dixon center fielder Olivia Mowery, allowing two more runs to score.

The Duchesses (7-11) entered the game on a four-game winning streak in part by avoiding crucial mistakes, but that didn’t happen Tuesday.

“The last five games, we’ve done really well playing as a team and playing together,” Dixon coach Candi Rogers said. “We’ve really made progress, and then today, we took a couple of steps back.”

Mendota tacked on four insurance runs in the seventh inning, aided by a Dixon error, a walk and a hit by pitch. Izzy Nanez started the rally with a single, while runs scored on two groundouts, a double-steal, and a base hit by Rylee Sondgeroth.

“We’ve been working on some different strategies, and I thought we executed really well,” Mendota coach Joel Perez said. “We bunted over. We were aggressive on the bases. We took an extra base when we could, and that’s the kind of stuff we’ve been talking about. We want to be playing our best ball going into the regional, and I thought we took a step in that direction.”

Softball

Mendota 7, Dixon 0

Star of the game: Paige Manning, Mendota, 7 IP, 0 R, 13 SO, BB, HBP

Key performers: Jenna O’Donnell, Mendota, 2-run 2B; Arianne Smith, Dixon, 2 1B

Up next: Rockford Christian at Dixon, 4:30 p.m. Thursday