The Charleston High School softball team was swept in an Apollo Conference doubleheader against Effingham at Karch Field on Friday, losing game one 5-1 and losing game two 9-7. 

The Trojans’ (12-8, 2-4) bats were quiet in the first game only getting five hits, three coming from sophomore Railyn Cox.  

“We didn’t hit the ball like I know we can,” Charleston head coach Allyson O’Dell said. 

A solo homerun in the second by Flaming Hearts’ (12-6, 6-2) senior Mya Harvey would put the team on the board. 

Harvey would get her second RBI in the next inning by hitting a single. 

In the fifth inning, Effingham would pull away with three runs, two RBI doubles first by junior Ryley Engel then by junior Natalie Armstong. Freshman Keagyn Koenig hit an RBI single to drive in the final run for Effingham. 

“The hitters came in and had good approaches, good at bats,” Effingham head coach Jerry Trigg said.  

Charleston got its only run of the game in the fifth inning with an RBI single from senior right fielder Rylee Shrader. 

Flaming Heart senior Saige Althoff pitched a complete game, allowing one run and recording 10 strikeouts.  

“Saige threw very well, kept them off balance,” Trigg said. “I thought she did a really good job of getting ahead of them.” 

Cox also pitched a complete game allowing five runs and recording a strikeout. 

Scoring in game two was back and forth with there not being a full inning where a run was not scored. 

In the first inning Cox hit a two run RBI single to put Charleston up early. 

Effingham’s response in the second inning was a sacrifice fly by sophomore Maci Hayes to put them on the board. Althoff would hit a groundball in the next at-bat that would score the tying run. 

A leadoff homerun in the bottom of the second inning by freshman Rylee Lewis gave the lead back to the Trojans. An RBI single by Harvey extended the lead back to two. 

Effingham tied the game again with two RBI doubles first from senior and EIU commit Sidney Donaldson and then by Harvey to make the score 4-4. 

The Trojans then had their first single run inning reclaiming the lead with an RBI single by senior Blair Ritchey.  

Effingham tied the game once more in the fourth after an RBI single by Engel. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Cox hit a sacrifice fly to claim the lead for the Trojans once more. 

In the fifth, junior Alyssa Martin hit an RBI single to once more tie the game for the Flaming Hearts.  

The onslaught of scoring stopped for two half innings until the bottom of the sixth, when Cox collected her fourth RBI of the game to put the Trojans up 7-6. 

In the top of the seventh after getting a runner on base, Donaldson would tie the game for the last time for Effingham, and three batters later Koenig hit an RBI double to give Effingham its first lead of the game. Martin in the next at-bat added an insurance run to make it 9-7. 

Charleston would not be able to come back, and Effingham completed the sweep. 

“Just a wild game for us,” Trigg said. “We just kept hanging in there.” 

Despite the loss O’Dell was happy that the Trojans bounced back after the first game 

“I’m glad they turned the page after that last game,” O’Dell said. 

 Jason Coulombe can be reached at 581-2812 or at jmcoulombe@eiu.edu.