Cobras cruise past Loggers in Region 24 tournament

May 3—CHAMPAIGN — Dan and Kristi Paulson made history at an opportune time for the Parkland softball team.

The Cobras' co-head coaches earned their 200th victory with a 16-0 victory in the first game of a Region 24 tournament doubleheader against Lincoln Land on Thursday, which set the tone for a 9-1 win in the late game.

"It's just a testament to the young ladies that we've been lucky enough to coach," Dan Paulson said.

A brief ceremony that featured green and gold balloons preceded the second game, a contest during which the Cobras' boisterous dugout had plenty of reason to cheer.

In the first game, 11 different Parkland batters tallied at least one hit — with the top-ranked Cobras racking up 13 in total — to support a combined four-hit performance from Karley Yergler and Ryleigh Owens in the circle.

"We don't want to take a team for granted," Parkland sophomore Emma Mason said. "They're all coming for us, so it's just going up there and focusing and doing what we know we can do."

Yergler — a former Mahomet-Seymour standout who retired the first six batters she faced — struck out Lincoln Land's Sidney Glick and Bridgette Royer to start the top of the first inning and forced Allie Dolenc to fly out to second base.

"My defense really had my back that game, made a ton of great plays," Yergler said. "When my defense makes plays like that, it really helps me stay confident on the mound and keep pushing on the mound when the defense really has my back."

Parkland's offense responded by scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning as Alisha Frederick, Lizzie Stiverson and Lexie Griffin crossed the plate.

Frederick, a Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond graduate, and Stiverson, a Monticello alumna, each drew walks as seven consecutive pitches outside the strike zone from Loggers starter Kaylee Yost caught the attention of a vocal Parkland dugout.

"If we show up, it doesn't matter who we play," Frederick said. "It's so much fun."

Parkland (54-4) brought across seven runs in the second inning to establish firm control of the game on its home field.

A two-run home run from Yergler was the highlight of the inning as the Illinois signee plated Stiverson for the latter's second run of the game.

"Just being confident, being used to what we've seen them throw the four or five times we've seen them play now," Yergler said. "Just getting in that mindset that we're confident we can hit the ball."

Six more runs came across in the next two innings of the five-inning contest; Yergler, Mia Rudder, Ryleigh Owens and Emma Mason each drove in two runs during the abbreviated win.

With Parkland's baseball team and men's basketball coach John Bowler among those on hand to watch, the Cobras picked up where they left off after a short celebration between games.

Even more cookie cakes and balloons were present following the Cobras' equally dominant 9-1 win in the nightcap.

"We try not to think too far ahead," Kristi Paulson said. "We're always focusing on one game at a time. Obviously (assistant coach Stacey Birdsong) is a huge part of that success as a whole coaching staff and we've had good groups all the way through. It's all about the teams."

The Cobras' success in the second game was ignited by a five-run showing in the bottom of the first inning, during which Yergler singled to drive in Frederick and Mason blasted a grand slam to plate Yergler, Griffin and Owens.

"That was a really good at-bat for me," Mason said. "I've been seeing the ball well, so I just knew to watch the ball and focus on getting a base hit for the team."

Ellie Vetter turned in six innings of six-hit, eight-strikeout ball to support the winning cause, with the Loggers' lone run of the afternoon coming via a Sage Carr double that brought Glick home in the third inning.

Frederick connected on a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to drive in Addie Wallace and end the contest via the eight-run rule.

"When we can score often and not just in one inning, that always makes a big difference," Kristi Paulson said. "Keeping them focused throughout the game and trying to put a run on the board every inning is key for us right now."

Home-field advantage will also come into play for the Cobras when they host the NJCAA Division II Central District championship on May 10-11 in search of their third national tournament appearance in four years. Opponents and game times are still to be determined.

"We're going to take a couple of days off and let them heal up and rest and we're going to get hard at it in practice," Kristi Paulson said. "We've got a four-game double-elimination tournament and hopefully we're ready."