Wolverines off to 2-0 start district finals...

The East Mills softball team picked up its second win of the season Friday with a 10-7 victory over Nishnabotna.

Devin Laughlin and Brooklyn Chickering each had three hits and Katie Sowers and Jessika Lyn two each for the Wolverines’ offensive onslaught. Laughlin homered and drove in three runs.

Joni Laughlin earned her second win of the season, scattering eight hits and allowing two earned runs in the complete game.

East Mills 13,
Sidney 3

Last season, the East Mills softball team didn’t pick up its first win until the 17th game of the season.

The Wolverines didn’t have to wait that long this season.

“It feels really good to start out 1-0 in the conference for the first time in awhile,” said East Mills coach Jeff Laughlin

The Wolverines won their season-opener on Tuesday with a 13-3, five innings win over Sidney.

“I thought our defensive focus was really good,” Laughlin said. “I don’t know if we made any errors, I can’t think of any off hand.”
East Mills scored seven runs in the bottom of the fifth to clinch the win via the 10-run mercy rule.

The game-ending run was scored by Kelsey Croghan on a passed ball by Sidney pitcher Tayler Holt. Croghan was 2-for-4 with two runs batted in.

East Mills kept the fifth inning going with a mixture of hits, as well as defensive miscues by Sidney.

“Sidney fielded the ball really well for four innings, but then that fifth inning they made a few errors,” Laughlin said.

Croghan, Devin Laughlin and Abby Hardie all recorded RBI hits during the inning.

The Cowgirls struck first in the first inning thanks to a pair of RBI hits as they took a 2-0 lead.

East Mills didn’t trail for long as Devin Laughlin rounded the bases for the first time, hitting a RBI triple and scoring on the error, to tie the game in the half inning.

“Once we worked through the two runs in the first inning, we settled down pretty good,” Laughlin said.

Sidney took the lead once more on a RBI groundout in the third inning. Brooklyn Chickering tied the game once again the next half inning thanks to a RBI single, which scored Kendra Croghan. Laughlin said the team could keep up the pressure by hitting the ball well.

“We can hit one through nine in the order and we have some girls that are really good hitters,” Laughlin said.

East Mills tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning. Devin Laughlin had the highlight once again as she hit another RBI triple, which led to her once again scoring on the error.  Laughlin finished the game 3-for-4 at the plate with three runs scored and six RBI.

Joni Laughlin was able to settle in and pitch all five innings for East Mills, giving up three runs on two hits and striking out two. In addition, the younger Laughlin was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a RBI.

Jessika Lynn also had a multi-hit game against Sidney as she was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Kendra Croghan was the only other East Mills player to score multiple runs as she was 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs scored.