CLINTON —  On Friday and Saturday, August 20 and 21, the Clinton Junior High School (CJHS) Lady Maroon softball team hosted its annual 3D (three diamonds) Softball Tournament. 

This year, the tournament had nine other central Illinois teams competing along with the Lady Maroons.  There were two “pools” (groups) of five teams each, as usual, with each team playing against every other team in their respective group.  At the end of the tournament, the top two teams played for the championship and the next two teams played for third place. 

In the first round of play, the Lady Maroons drew the Lady Comets of Champaign Edison Middle School as their opponent.  The Lady Comets struck first in the initial inning with one run on one hit and two walks and some slick base running. 

Then, in the third inning, the opposition garnered another run on an error by the Lady Maroons and followed by a double.  The Lady Maroons answered in the fourth inning with one run on two hits.  The home team then loaded the bases in each of the last two innings, but could not get another run across the plate.  Thus the Lady Comets took the win 2-1.  Aliviyah Haynes (#9) pitched a complete game for the Lady Maroons. 

The Lady Maroons drew the Lady Hornets of Heyworth for their second opponent of the tournament and this match-up was more to the home fans liking. 

The home team began by holding the opposition to no runs in the game and started off with 3 runs in the first inning. The Lady Maroons then added three more runs in the third inning and capped off their onslaught with their last run in the fourth.  The Lady Maroons easily took the 7-0 win in this game.  The Clinton pitcher was Anelise Thompson (#19) for the complete game shut-out win.

• See the complete story in the Friday, September 3, print edition of the Clinton Journal or now in the Journal E-Edition for subscribers.