North Callaway pitchers brought good stuff to Van-Far’s field grand opening.

In the Eastern Missouri Conference opener for both teams and the first game played on Van-Far’s new field, the Ladybirds defeated Van-Far 15-4 after sophomore pitcher Lauren Speight took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, which was spoiled by five hits in a four-run Lady Indians inning. In the junior varsity game, freshman pitcher Olivia Knoepflein was one out away in the five-inning contest before a single to right field spoiled it but didn’t ruin a 6-0 North Callaway victory.

“Give Van-Far credit,” North Callaway head coach Mariah McKee said. “They didn’t stop. We fielded the ball well, and they didn’t have any errors.”

In 15-4 win, which was North Callaway’s fourth straight victory against the Indians with at least 10 runs, the Ladybirds finished with 12 hits and every batter reached base at least once. Abigail Schmidt led by going 4-for-5 with four RBI and a double. Kymorie Myers, Corynne Miller and Faith Cash each had two hits with Myers picking up a double, and Brianna Prosser had two RBI without the benefit of a hit.

For Van-Far, Carmen Wilburn was 1-for-3 with two RBI that made it a 12-4 North Callaway lead in the fifth inning and extended the game to the full seven innings as a 10-run lead after five would have ended it there. Dalana Gay drove in Van-Far’s first run in that inning to go 1-for-3, and Reeve Woodall had a double.

Speight ultimately finished with four runs on four hits and five strikeouts through four innings, and Ellie Bedsworth pitched three shutout innings with five strikeouts.
Schmidt picked up her first two RBI in a three-run first inning that ballooned to a 10-0 lead in the fourth inning after Schmidt and Ella Slater scored on Prosser’s sacrifice fly.

North Callaway plays at 10 a.m. today at New Bloomfield, and Van-Far plays at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Madison.