By Fred Kroner
Allison Pangburn, Chloe Reardon and Vanessa Wright all went 3-for-3 in a Class 1A softball regional semifinal game, helping Villa Grove conquer visiting Okaw Valley 15-2.
Reardon knocked in six runs. Pangburn and Wright both had two RBI.
The Blue Devils scored six runs in the first inning and never trailed.
Logan Lillard contributed two hits.
Alexandria Brown pitched a complete game. She scattered five hits, walked two, struck out four and did not allow an earned run.
On Saturday (June 5), in a regional championship game where neither pitched allowed an earned run to score, Arcola broke a scoreless duel with two runs in the bottom of the sixth and hung on for a 2-1 triumph over visiting Villa Grove at Moore Park.
A seventh-inning double by Kaylee Arbuckle drove in Maci Clodfelder with the lone Blue Devil run.
VG was limited to three hits. Clodfelder hit a single and Pangburn delivered a double.
Brown pitched a complete game, scattering six hits, walking two and striking out three.
The Villa Grove seniors were Kyleigh Block and Addison Fisher.
The team’s pitching leaders for the season were Brown (6-7 record) and Block (4-5 record). They had nearly identical earned run averages. Block finished with a 4.47 ERA for 61 innings pitched. Brown ended with a 4.48 ERA for 65 2/3 innings pitched.
Block (54) and Brown (51) were the team-leaders in strikeouts.
For 26 games played, VG averaged 7.4 runs per game and allowed an average of 5.5 runs per game.
Offensively, six squad members ended the year with batting averages of at least .300: Pangburn (.424), Block (410), Wright (.397), Clodfelder (.381), Lillard (.353) and Brown (337).
Wright had the most doubles (10), Pangburn had the most triples (8) and Clodfelder had the most home runs (4). Block and Clodfelder had the most stolen bases (10).
Pangburn and Clodfelder had the most extra-base hits (15). Pangburn had the most games with two, or more, hits (12).
Villa Grove ends the season with an overall record of 12-14. The team scored an average of 7.4 runs per game and allowed an average of 5.5 runs per game.
