The Allen Red Devils are riding a three-game winning streak.
The Red Devils’ latest win came during a dominating 10-2, 9-0 sweep of the Highland Community College Scotties, which has Allen coach Nicole Peters excited ahead of Thursday’s doubleheader against Cowley County Community College and Saturday’s doubleheader against No. 12 ranked Johnson County Community College.
“We played together and did some things we had been working on to get things done,” Peters said. “Some of the girls who had big hits today, those were their first home runs. It shows we can hit throughout the lineup.”
Freshman pitcher Addie Keys shined on the mound and in the batter’s box as she tied sophomore catcher Makayla Hirschmann for the team lead in RBIs with three each in the opener and posted six strikeouts in the finale to secure the sweep.
In the opener, freshman outfielder Kara Walker put Allen on the scoreboard with an RBI double, then Hirschmann added three runs with a home run.
Walker struck again the next inning with another RBI double, then Keys pushed Allen’s lead to 8-0 with a three-run homer.
A two-run homer by sophomore third baseman Hope Sanchez put the Red Devils in double digits as they mercy-ruled Highland by the fifth inning.
Freshman pitcher Andrea Ruby picked up the win. Backed by a flawless defense, Ruby allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over five innings. Walker and Hirschmann each had two hits and were each successful in 2 of 3 at-bats.
In the nightcap, Allen kept the runs coming but did not truly assert themselves until a five-run third inning. Picking up where she left off in the opener, Keys put Allen ahead in the opening frame with a sacrifice fly.
In the third inning, Walker extended Allen’s lead to 3-0 with a two-RBI double, followed by a three-run homer by freshman shortstop Taylor Damme, which doubled Allen’s advantage with one swing.
Allen added three more runs in the fifth inning to secure another mercy-rule victory off an RBI double by McCammon, a Walker sacrifice fly and a Keys RBI grounder.
Keys ended the day with a five-inning shutout, tallying six strikeouts while allowing three hits and two walks.
McCammon had two hits while successful in 2 of 3 at-bats.
The Red Devils are now 15-22 overall and third in the conference standings at 8-4.
“She (Keys) pitched well and really spun the ball well today,” Coach Peters said. “It helped that our defense was good behind her.”
The women host Cowley (23-19, 9-3) Thursday, then head on the road to face JCCC (27-9, 12-0) Saturday for the annual “Purple Game.” First pitch is at 1 p.m.
