It was difficult for Van-Far softball to score runs at times Saturday in the Hallsville Tournament.

The Lady Indians lost two of three games — an 8-2 decision to Westran and 3-0 shutout to Salisbury — and busted open with a 14-2 victory against Sturgeon. Senior Mara Jensen led the team with five RBI, tallying all of them against Sturgeon.

Jensen picked up two of those RBI on swing in the first inning against Sturgeon, hitting a two-run home run for a 3-0 Van-Far lead that turned into 4-0 on a RBI single by sophomore Dalana Gay. Jensen finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored 

Sturgeon had five errors that led to seven unearned runs, with two of them occurring in the five-run second inning for Van-Far.

Carmen Wilburn drew three walks and scored three runs from the leadoff spot while senior Madelynn Caldwell scored four runs on a 1-for-3 day, reaching on three errors. Gay pitched four innings with six hits, two runs and two strikeouts.

Van-Far fell behind in the first inning against Westran, threatening to score in the bottom half of the inning that ended on a line drive double play hit by senior Hailey Lowry. A line drive smacked by Gay resulted in an error a tying run for the Lady Indians in the second inning.

The Lady Indians committed five errors that allowed five unearned runs to score on Gay and one on Jensen in relief. Gay completed 3⅓ innings with three hits two walks and two strikeouts.

The Lady Hornets scored five runs thanks partly to two Van-Far errors in the fourth inning to take an 8-1 lead. Senior Layla Ogden drove in Gay to avoid stranding the leadoff double in the fourth inning.

The Lady Indians were no-hit by Salisbury’s Jaden Howard in its third game, striking out nine times in six innings. Wilburn reached base three times — twice via walk and once via hit by pitch.

Van-Far (1-2) opens its Eastern Missouri Conference and home schedule at 5 p.m. Thursday against North Callaway.

Football

Van-Far beaten 44-22 by early mistakes, little gains in South Callaway

Van-Far gave South Callaway some extra yards early and couldn’t catch up.

After falling behind 15-0 following two turnovers, the Indians lost 44-22 Friday night against South Callaway in Mokane. Van-Far managed to come within six points at halftime but couldn’t stop the South Callaway offensive train in the second half.

Junior Nikos Connaway had 138 yards of total offense, with 82 happening on the ground along with his two rushing touchdowns. He threw for another as part of his 4-for-5 for 56 yards passing. Junior Gage Gibson and senior Brandon Eoff combined for 115 yards on 25 carries to give the Indians 200 rushing yards.

Head coach Lucas Gibson said Van-Far was starting six freshmen on offense and five on defense with its smaller roster so some fatigue is to be expected. The Indians didn’t do themselves any favors by fumbling the ball on their own 20-yard line in the first quarter, which led to a South Callaway touchdown. Another fumble on Van-Far’s second drive allowed the Bulldogs to play their methodical running game.

“They showed some grit. They’re young kids,” Gibson said. “A couple turnovers cost us big in the first quarter.”

Connaway and Gibson, who also led the team with 13.5 tackles, came up with interceptions in the first half to set up the Indians for a comeback.

Connaway threw a touchdown pass to sophomore Reece Culwell before being forced to use his legs later on. After receiving a bad snap on a punt, Connaway weaved around defenders for a 60-yard score to make it 22-16 South Callaway at halftime.

“We were joking about it the next time we were punting,” Gibson said. “(Connaway) said, ‘I hope I get a good snap’ because we were down at our end zone basically. I was like, ‘Well, it worked out last time. We scored in it.’”

Van-Far scored one more touchdown on a long drive that was capped by a Connaway keeper and had a 47-yard Eoff run to set it up, but South Callaway did that more frequently in the second half.

Every little bit of yardage chipped away at the Indians’ defense, Gibson said, as they had trouble stopping South Callaway’s dive running play.

“They come out at halftime, and they took half of that quarter driving down on us four or five yards at a time,” Gibson said. “Up the middle, our linemen couldn’t stop it. They’re all freshmen. They did good for a while.”

Van-Far plays on the road again at 7 p.m. Friday against Russellville (1-0), who defeated Missouri Military Academy 49-6 at home in Week 1.