F-M splits pair at Lennox tourney

The Fremont-Mills softball team was 1-1 at the Lenox Softball Invitational on Saturday.

The Knights (7-4 overall, 3-2 in the Corner Conference) dropped a 6-5 decision to host Lenox and earned a 11-1 win over Adair-Casey on Saturday.

Kendall Fichter had six hits, including a home run and double in the two games. The senior catcher also drove in five runs and scored three runs.
Madison Powers and Brandi Beem each added three hits.

Powers took the loss in the circle against Lenox allowing five hits and three earned runs while striking out seven.

Against Adair-Casey, Sydney Esary allowed just one hit and fanned seven in a dominating win.

Fremont-Mills 3,
Sidney 2

Fremont-Mills went on the road for a 3-2 Corner Conference softball win over Sidney on Friday.

The Knights got seven strong innings in the circle from Madison Powers in the win. The junior southpaw scattered seven hits and allowed just one earned run.

Powers, Kendall Fichter, Kelsey Hurley and Kalyn Madison each had a hit for the Knights.

Villisca 15,
Fremont-Mills 10

Villisca took advantage of eight Fremont-Mills errors and some opportunistic base-running to snap a four-game loosing skid to the Knights with a 15-10 Corner Conference softball victory on Thursday.

“We haven’t played like that all year,” Fremont-Mills coach Kyle Fichter said after the game when told his team committed eight errors leading to 10 unearned runs. “We started pressing, trying to get in the game on the field and at the plate in one play and one swing instead of working our way back.”

After two innings, the Bluejays led 1-0 thanks to an Allie Bronner RBI single. The score would remain that way until the bottom of the third when the Knights’ bats came alive.

An error and back-to-back walks left the bases loaded. A pair of singles by Elizabeth Madison and Sydney Esary plated three runs. An error by the Bluejays led to a fourth and the Knights appeared to be in control up 4-1 heading into the fourth innings.

“We get two outs and then give them four runs on errors. It snowballed from there,” Fichter said.

The Knights’ defense seemed to go down hill from there.

After walking the first two batters in the fourth, Esary induced a strikeout and a pop up but the Knights’ would not escape unscathed. Another Bronner single plated a run, and two Knight errors on a routine groundball cleared the bases to put Villisca back up 5-4.

The defensive breakdowns would continue to haunt the Knights.
The Knights went down in order in the bottom of the fourth which led to a three run inning for the Bluejays keyed by three Fremont-Mills’ fielding miscues.

The Knights would battle back to knot the score in the fifth on Emily Smith’s three run home run, her first of the season, but Villisca would come back to score five runs of their own in the top of the sixth to pull away for good.
Just five of the Bluejays’ season-high 15 runs were earned.

Fichter hopes the loss can turn out to be a good thing for the Knights.

“Maybe this will get their attention not to overlook anybody. It had been a while since we had lost to Villisca but they earned it. They were hitting it hard,” Fichter said.

Esary threw six innings, striking out   six and allowing   eight hits before giving way to Madison Powers in the seventh after developing some back stiffness.

Brandi Beem led the Knights with three hits. Madison added two hits.

Fremont-Mills 15,
Nishnabotna 2

Fremont-Mills smacked 17 hits in a 15-2 Corner Conference victory over Nishnabotna last Tuesday.

Kendall Fichter continued her hot hitting for the Knights going 3-for-5 with a double, home run and six runs driven in.

Brandi Beem was 4-for-4 and scored four runs. Taryn Williams and Kalyn Madison added three hits each.

Sydney Esary pitched the win allowing just one earned run and striking out nine.

Fremont-Mills 9,
Bedford 3

Kendall Fichter was 4-for-4 and drove in six runs for Fremont-Mills in a 9-3 victory over Bedford last Monday.

The Knights (5-2 overall, 2-1 in the Corner Conference) pounded out 12 hits. Elizabeth Madison and Kalyn Madison each added two hits.

Madison Powers earned the win in the circle, scattering six hits and two earned runs while fanning two in a complete-game.