By Jim Beers, contributing writer
CHESTER – The Chester High School Lady Jackets softball team has hit the diamonds to begin the 2022 season. The Jackets are young this year with 3 seniors,1 junior, three sophomores and 7 freshmen.
Ryan Petrowske is at the helm for the squad this season and he is assisted by Crystal Tindall, Justin Frazer, and Emily Millburg.
Senior returning starters include Ashlyn Colvis (#12) at 3rd base and catching, Anna Childs (#2) at 1st base, 2nd base and outfield, and Kylie Fortner (#7) at short stop, and outfield.
Juniors include Emma Eggemeyer (#5). Emma plays 3rd base and pitches for the Lady Jackets.
Sophomores include Camrynn Luthy (#8) at 2nd base. Kinsli McCarty (#10) plays 1st base. And Alexis Eggemeyer (#15) pitches and plays in the outfield.
The seven members in the rookie freshman class include Emma Murphy (#1) behind the plate at catcher and outfield; McKenna LaChance (#4) a utility player; Kourtney Welton (#13) in the outfield; Elaina Lutman (#14) a shortstop; Whitney Sulser (#16) a 1st basemen; Emily Heinemeyer (#18) a utility player; and Olivia Earl (#21) at 3rd base and outfield.
The Jackets played one game in Week 1 at Marissa losing in a shutout, 10-0. In Week 2 Chester traveled twice beating Steeleville in a romp, 15-2, and losing both games of a round robin tournament at Pinckneyville, 10-9 against Pinckneyville and 18-2 vs Mt. Vernon.
Marissa 10-Chester 0
CHS played at Marissa Tuesday March 15. The Lady Meteors shut the Jackets out, beating them 10-0. Marissa scored 4 runs in the first inning, another 4 in the second inning and one in each of the 4th and 5th innings.
Emma Eggemeyer pitched for Chester 4.1 innings throwing 8 first pitch strikes and 3 strikeouts. Grace Middendorf had the win for the Meteors. Camrynn Luthy has Chester’s only hit. Madison McDougal and Bree Portz led the Meteors with one RBI apiece.
In the game the Lady Jackets recorded two hits and Marisa had eight hits. Chester committed five errors while the Meteors had just one. With the loss. Chester began the 2022 season with a record of 0-1.
Chester 15-Steeleville 2
The Lady Jackets traveled to Steeleville Monday March 21 to start Week 2 against the Lady Softball Warriors. Chester won the game behind 14 hits and just one error. Steeleville managed three hits and committed six errors.
Emma Eggemeyer got the win for CHS and Emma Mullholland took the loss for Steeleville. Chester scored 1 run in the first, 3 runs in the second, but the third inning closed the door for Steeleville as the Jackets added 8 runs giving them a 12-2 lead.
Chester sealed the deal by scoring 3 more runs in the fourth inning and held the Warriors scoreless the rest of the game to short-game Steeleville, 15-2. With the win, Chester evened their record at 1-1.
The Jackets hit the road again Saturday March 26 to play at Pinckneyville in a round robin tournament with the Lady Panthers and the Lady Rams from Mt. Vernon. The Jackets went winless for the day with losses to both Pinckneyville and Mt. Vernon.
Pinckneyville 10-Chester 9
In the first game of the round robin at 19:00 a.m. Chester’s Emma Eggemeyer faced Pinckneyville’s Rileigh Harris in a hard-fought battle to the end.
Chester scored 3 runs in the top of the first inning to take an early 3-0 lead. Neither team scored in the second frame. The Jackets added another four runs in the top of the 3rd inning to lead, 7-0.
Pinckneyville got hot in the 4th and 5th innings scoring 5 runs in the 4th and 3 runs in the 5th. They also held the Jackets scoreless in both of those innings to take an 8-7 lead after five innings of play.
Both teams scored two runs in the 6th inning and were scoreless in the 7th. The Lady Panthers managed to escape the YellowJackets in a close contest, 10-9.
In the battle, Chester recorded 14 hits and Pinckneyville got 11 hits. Both teams committed 4 errors apiece for a fairly evenly played game.
In the loss Alexis Eggemeyer had three RBI’s and Anna Childs recorded two hits. Emma Eggemeyer led with 7 strikeouts and 21 first-pitch strikes. It was a game that should have been Chester’s for the win. With the loss, the Lady Jackets fell to 1-2 for the season.
Mt. Vernon 18-Chester 2
Chester faced Mt. Vernon at 12:00 noon in their second game of the round robin. CHS was the home team in the game. The Lady Rams started the game off with 3 runs in the top of the first inning. Chester answered with two runs of their own at their first bat for a 3-2 first inning score.
Neither team scored in the second inning, but Mt. Vernon added 9 runs in the top of the 3rd, 4 runs in the top of the 4th, and another 2 runs in the top of the 5th. All that time the Rams held Chester scoreless and after five innings Mt. Vernon led, 18-2 to end the game on the 10-run rule after 5 innings of play.
In the loss, Mt. Vernon recorded 16 hits and Chester had just five. Both teams played a clean game with the Lady Jackets committing just one error and the Lady Rams playing a perfect defensive game with no errors.
Ashlyn Colvis and Emma Eggemeyer had pitching duties for Chester while Emily Swan pitched for Mt. Vernon. Swan recorded 13 strikeouts while Eggemeyer had four. With the loss Chester dropped to a season record of 3-1.