Quest stalled by Tuesday rainstorm

The Hillsboro Trojans needed to win two games at the regional tournament in Marion Tuesday to advance to the state softball championship, but played only one, as rain washed out the second semifinal and championship games.

The Trojans took care of the business they could by beating Halstead 4-0. It was a surprisingly close contest, given that Hillsboro beat Halstead 17-0 just last week.

“Halstead put up a good game today, they put up a good defense,” coach Stephanie Sinclair said.

Allison Weber pitched a complete game for the win, backed by good defensive play that helped to keep the Swathers from putting runners on base.

“Allison did a great job pitching today,” Sinclair said.

Samantha Moss was the Trojans’ defense in the sixth inning, sweeping up grounders and making the throws to first to account for all three Halstead outs.

“She’s earning her keep over there,” Sinclair said. “She had four or five ground balls without any mistakes.”

Light rain started falling in the middle innings of the game, and intensified during the second semifinal. When a player unintentionally slid into first base when slipping in the mud, the umpires decided conditions were too unsafe to continue.

The completion of the second semifinal and the championship game, for which Hillsboro qualified, was to be today, conditions permitting. If the field is too wet to play, the games were to be Thursday.