WARREN — The Warren Harding Raiders’ softball team got a big 15-5 victory at home over Newton Falls on Thursday.

Junior Karley Trisler, Harding’s ace, led the way in the circle for the Raiders.

“It can be stressful,” Trisler said. “I definitely have my teammates to back me up. I rely on them a lot. I pitch to make the offense put the ball in play, and the defense takes care of it.”

Freshman Azarriah Phillips has a lot of range at shortstop. Phillips can get to everything and she has a strong enough arm to throw out base runners.

“You’re like the leader on the field at shortstop,” Phillips said. “I like playing shortstop. There’s a lot to it, and I like to pick everybody up if there’s an error. I’m very excited to be playing with this team.”

The Raiders built a 3-0 lead before exploding for 10 runs in the bottom of the third. Breasia Butler had an RBI double and an RBI triple in the inning. Josellen O’Brien came around to score as a pinch runner. Delanie Riley circled the bases after a double, and Alicia Vaughn doubled as well.

Speedy junior Ky’Ziya Minor turned a bunt into a double by hustling down the line and never stopping until she reached second base.

“Every time Coach makes me bunt, I could never get the bunt off,” Minor said. “I was so happy I finally got that one though. I’m just really excited to be playing. I’ve got one more year left. I can’t wait to see how much we improve.”

The Raiders gave Trisler a break in the top of the fifth, and that gave the Tigers a chance to improve at the plate.

After freshman pitcher Kylee Lance tossed a scoreless bottom of the fourth, she drove home Madalyn Knight with a RBI single. Kirra Howard came around to score for Newton Falls before Harding turned back to Trisler.

The Tigers scored five runs and loaded bases, but Trisler came back in and got out of it with a ground ball to third that Butler snagged and threw out the runner at first.

“We’re going to keep pushing,” Trisler said. ” We’ve had our ups and downs, but this is a tough team. We’re going to keep working to get better every day.”

Riley blasted a lead-off double to start the bottom of the fifth. Then, Phillips smashed a base hit up the middle, and Butler ended it by knocking both runners in for the 10-run rule.

“We work on defense over and over,” Harding coach Rick Riley said. “We knew we were going to have to be a good defensive team. We’re a young team. We’ll have four or five freshmen in the lineup every game. It’s been trial by error.

“We want to stay aggressive on the bases. The girls don’t give up. They’re going to try. They’re going to fight. That’s what they have to do. We’re very proud of these girls.”

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