Marengo Academy beats Ashford 8-2 in game one Saturday

MONTGOMERY — Marengo Academy (22-6) downed Ashford 8-2 Saturday morning to begin what it hopes will be a marathon day that ends with a fifth straight state title.

The Lady Longhorns hung four runs on the board in the first inning as Conner Etheridge and Andrea Edmonds scored on a Brooke Smyly 2-RBI single. Macey Petrey then legged out an inside-the-park homer that also plated Smyly.

Ashford showed signs of life in the third as Sampson stroked a triple that plated Falley. An errant throw on the play allowed Sampson to make it all the way home and cut the score to 4-2.

Etheridge reached on an error in the third before scoring an error that followed an Andrea Edmonds single. Petrey then hit a grounder to plate Edmonds and put Marengo up 6-2.

Marengo tacked on another run in the fifth when Petrey singled and scored on an error. The final run of the contest came when Chandler Stenz tripled and then scored on a RBI grounder by Anna Michael Crocker.

Edmonds recorded a complete game, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out six and allowing one earned run.

The Lady Longhorns will move on to face the loser of Edgewood Academy and Lakeside School. The winner of that contest will move into the championship round.

After winning game one Friday, the Lady Longhorns lost to Lakeside 1-0 to fall into the losers bracket and had to rebound with a 10-1 victory over Meadwoview to advance to Saturday play.