The Riverside Bulldogs softball team won an 11-1 slow paced contest against the Westwood Rebels on Thursday night. Early on for Westwood they realized it would be a long evening against Riverside pitcher Peyton Schafer who had 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in the top of the 1st. In the bottom Riverside got on the board with a passed ball into the backstop with a runner on third to put them up 1-0. In the top of the 2nd, Westwood hit an extra base hit but again Schafer struck out 2 more batters and left Westwood scoreless. The Bulldogs then used that momentum in the bottom of the 2nd to score 3 runs from, 5 walks, and an RBI single off of Madison Kelley. Riverside was then up 4-0 heading into the top of the 3rd. The Rebels scoring troubles continued until the top of the 4th where they had back-to-back base hits to finally bring in a run. The game was at 5-1 heading into the bottom of the 4th where Riverside had an RBI single towards right field and boosting their lead to 6-1.

The Bulldogs finally brought the game home in the bottom of the 5th where they had 6 runs come in due to 2 hits by pitches, a walk, and 3 hits including Peyton Schafer’s Walk off single to end the game at 11-1 with the run rule being achieved. Riverside’s key factor on the night was the patience at the plate with 7 Bulldog batters being walked, 5 hit by a pitch, and 6 solid hits. Westwood’s best batter on the day was Kayla Gray hitting an RBI single with her two at bats.

Some of the strong performances for Riverside came from Peyton Schafer pitching 5 innings, having 1 earned run, 2 hits, 5 strikeouts, and 4 walks. Batting wise Schafer went 3-4 with 2 RBI’s and second baseman Kayden Schanck had an RBI Triple.

Riverside Head Coach Lacie Patterson the overall show by her team on the evening.

Riverside improves to 17-11 on the year thanks to their win and will head off to Essex on Monday. The Rebels now sit at 6-14 with their loss and travel to Sioux Central on Monday.