By ROY ALLEN

Seward sports information director

The Seward County Lady Saints continued their Spring Break trip in Phoenix, Arizona, with a pair of wins Tuesday, downing North Dakota’s Williston State by scores of 8-2 and 13-7 to improve to 26-9 on the year.

Seward got on the board just two batters into the game in Game 1 of their doubleheader with Williston State as Kristyna Garcia launched a solo home run to center to put the Lady Saints on top 1-0. 

The Lady Saints extended their lead to 3-0 in the second with RBI knocks from Lexi Manyik and Maycee Koontz and the teams traded solo home runs in their next at bats to make it a 4-1 game after three. 

It remained a 4-1 game to the fifth when Sydney Epp doubled home a run to make it 5-1 and a pair of Teton errors allowed three more Seward runs to score to make it an 8-1 game. 

Seward didn’t score again, but Williston plated just one more as the Lady Saints cruised to an 8-2 win in seven. 

Seward had 12 hits in the win and took full advantage of five Williston errors.  Jordan Garrison finished a perfect 3 for 3 at the plate for the Lady Saints while Epp, Manyik, and Koontz each had two hits.  Macy Pritchard earned the win in the circle to improve to 3-5 on the year, going the distance while allowing eight hits and two runs against the Teton lineup. 

As they did in Game 1, Seward jumped in front right away in Game 2 as well as Leena Mortensen doubled home a run in the Lady Saints half of the first to put them up 1-0 after one. 

Paige St. Pierre extended the Lady Saints lead to 2-0 in the second with an RBI single, but Williston knotted the score up with a pair of two out runs in the top of the third to make it 2-2. 

On her 1ninth birthday, Sage Harrison exploded on a 1-1 pitch for a grand slam in the third to give the Lady Saints a 6-2 lead but again, Seward couldn’t get off the field with two outs as the Tetons scored four times in the top of the fourth to even the score once again, this time at 6. 

The Lady Saints kept swinging their sticks and retook the lead and blew things open in the fourth as Garcia drove two home with a single and St. Pierre doubled home a couple around two Williston errors to make it a 12-6 game.

Each side scored just once more as the Lady Saints wrapped up the 13-7 win to finish off the doubleheader sweep.

Seward pounded out 14 hits in the win, getting three hits apiece from Garrison and Mortensen while Garcia and Harrison combined for seven RBI’s for the Lady Saints.  Ruby Gonzalez picked up the win on the rubber for Seward, allowing seven hits and seven runs, three earned, to improve to 6-2 on the year. 

The Lady Saints improved to 26-9 on the year with the wins while Williston State was just eight games into their season at 1-7. 

Seward will take Wednesday off before returning to the field on Thursday where they will take on Williston and South Mountain in a split doubleheader.