Lady Raider softball team plays through week of triumph and injury

After a week of holding two opponents scoreless in four games, the Lady Raiders ended their last game too early Friday when Presley Steffens suffered a broken leg.

It happened at Liberty Bell High School, where Steffens was making a play at second base to put out a runner who slid into her.

Steffens suffered a complete break of both the major bones in her lower leg and won't be playing the rest of the season. The game, the second of a doubleheader, was called at the bottom of the second inning.

"It was heartbreaking for all of us to see," Coach Jaci Gross said.

Maybe especially so for Assistant Coach Mike Steffens, her father.

Gross said Presley has had a successful surgery to repair the break.

"The first thing she said to me was, 'Well, I'm one day closer to being back on the field,'" Gross said, predicting "an incredible comeback" for Steffens after healing, but not this season.

It was an ugly end of a game that, like the first game in the doubleheader and their contest with Liberty Bell at Grand Coulee March 28, showed Lake Roosevelt's dominance.

Aaliyah Marchand had struck out two, allowed one walk and one hit, while six LR batters amassed 20 points to the Mountain Lions' 0 - in two innings.

Presley Steffens had pitched 12 strikeouts in game one at the still-snowy Liberty Bell school, allowing only two hits and one walk in five innings.

LR batters pounded in 13 runners, including three doubles and a tiple for four runners batted in by Sawyer Steffens, Presley's sister, who went four for four at bat.

Another eight batters succeeded at the plate, especially in inning four when they added eight on the scoreboard for the 13-0 win.

The meeting of the two teams March 28 predicted Friday's scoring outcomes, as Presley's perfect pitching struck out nine of nine Mountain Lion batters, and five of eight LR hitters batted in runners in three innings for the 15-0 win, including a home run by Sawyer Steffens.

Two days later, the LR girls made even quicker work of visiting Bridgeport over three innings as Marchand allowed no hits, no walks and struck out seven in about 45 minutes for the 15-0 win on Thursday.

Lola Yazzie's single and double in two at-bats yielded four RBIs. And a relentless Sawyer Steffens' single, plus her second home run in two games, added three.

"We finally got our bats going," Gross said. "I'm super proud of the team effort today."

The Lady Raiders are set to play a doubleheader with ACH at the ball fields in Hartline April 11, beginning at 2 p.m.

HERE WITH LIBERTY BELL

MARCH 28

Box Score

LB 0 0 0

LR 11 0 4

Winning Pitcher: Presley Steffens struck out 9 of 9 batters for perfect game

Hitting:

Taylor Thomas-Vargas - 2-3:two singles

Sawyer Steffens - 2-3: 1 double, 1 HR, 4 RBI's

Presley Steffens - 2-3: 2 singles, 2 RBI's

Aaliyah Marchand - 1-3: single

Nautika Brown - 1-3: single, 1 RBI

Juel Swager - 1-2: single, 2 RBI's

Peyton Jake - 1-1: single

Aspen Smith - 1-1: single, 1 RBI

Here with Bridgeport March 30

Box Score

B 0 0 0

LR 8 7 X

Winning Pitcher: Aaliyah Marchand 11 strikeouts, 0 walks, 0 hits

Hitting for LR

Lola Yazzie - 2-2: 1 single, 1 dbl., 4 RBI's

Sawyer Steffens - 2-2: 1` single, 1 HR, 3 RBI's

Aaliyah Marchand - 1-1: double, 1 RBI

Taylor Thomas-Vargas - 1-2: single, 2 RBI's

Cylia St. Pierre - 1-1: single, 1 RBI

Peyton Jake - 1-1, single, 1 RBI

Presley Steffens - 1-1: Triple

AT LIBERTY BELL MARCH 31

Game 1

Box Score

LR 2 1 2 8 0

LB 0 0 0 0 0

Winning Pitcher: Presley Steffens 12 strikeouts, 1 walk, 2 hits

Hitting for LR:

Sawyer Steffens 4-4: 3 dbls., 1 triple, 4 RBI's

Lola Yazzie - 2-3: 2 singles 1 RBI

Aaliyah Marchand - 2-4: 2 singles, 1 RBI

Taylor Thomas-Vargas - 2-4: 2 singles, 2 RBI's

Nautika Brown - 2-4: 2 singles, 1 RBI

Presley Steffens - 1-2: single

Juel Swager - 1-4: single, 2 RBI's

Aspen Smith - 1-4: single

LaMiyah Gentemenn - 1 RBI

Game 2

Box Score

LR 9 11

LB 0 0

Hitting for LR:

Sawyer Steffens - 3-4: 2 singles, 1 dbl, 4 RBI's

Taylor Thomas-Vargas - 2-2: 2 singles, 3 RBI's

Presley Steffens - 2-2: 2 singles, 1 RBI

Aaliyah Marchand - 1-2: 1 single 1 RBI

Juel Swager - 1-1: double, 3 RBI's

Peyton Jake - 1-1: single, 2 RBI's