Cardinals’ Nixon throws no-hitter
HOISINGTON – Hoisington/Central Plains pitcher Kassidy Nixon threw a no-hitter with 14 strikeouts to power the Cardinals past Lyons 10-0 in Tuesday’s opening Central Kansas League softball game. Gracie Aylward drove home three runs and Jordyn Boxberger drove home two runs.
The Cardinals (2-0 CKL) completed the sweep with an identical 10-0 second-game victory.
CARDINALS 10, LYONS 0 (G1) – The Cardinals roughed up Lyons pitcher JoJo Vargas for 10 runs, just two earned.
The Cardinals scored four first-inning runs. Nixon scored on Boxberger’s groundout. Mollie Steiner scored on a passed ball. Aylward’s single scored Kashlin Beck and Ava Henry for a 4-0 lead. Tricia Schremmer scored on Aylward’s fourth-inning triple.
Hoisington scored four times in the fifth inning. Boxberger’s single scored Kadence Urban. Boxberger and Steiner scored on errors and Beck scored on a passed ball. Shaylah Kempke scored on a sixth-inning passed ball for a run-rule victory.
CARDINALS 10, LYONS 0 (G2) – Boxberger backed up Nixon’s opener with a one-hit shutout with six strikeouts. Lyons’ Breanna Schloemer singled for the Lions’ base hit. Emma Willesden preserved the shutout with one shutout inning.
The Cardinals delivered at-bats with six runs scored on groundballs. Nixon started the trend with a first-inning groundball that scored Kempke. Boxberger’s single scored Nixon for a 2-0 lead. Aylward’s single scored Addyson Ogle and Aylward scored on Kempke’s second-inning groundout.
In the third inning, Boxberger scored on Beck’s groundout. Ogle scored on a passed ball.
The Cardinals scored four fourth-inning runs. Urban scored on Nixon’s groundout. Kempke scored on an error. Boxberger and Steiner alertly raced home on Brynn Blanc’s groundout.
Lyons 000 000 – 0 0 5
Hoisington 040 141 – 10 7 0
Vargas and Elliot. Nixon and Urban. W—Nixon, 1-0. L—Vargas, 0-1. 3B—H—Nixon, Aylward.
Lyons 000 00 – 0 1 5
Hoisington 222 4x – 10 6 1
Pinson, Vargas (4) and Vargas, Elliot (4). Boxberger, Willesden (5) and Urban. W—Boxberger, 1-0. L—Pinson, 0-1. 2B—H—Boxberger.