The Dewar Lady Dragon varsity fastpitch softball team improved to 18-1 on the season with a doubleheader sweep of the Cleveland Lady Tigers last Thursday in Cleveland.

The Lady Dragons took the opening contest last Thursday by an 18-0 margin, then completed the road sweep with a thrilling 7-6 victory in the nightcap.

The Dewar squad was back in action on Tuesday, hosting the Graham-Dustin Lady Chieftains and will compete at the Mounds Tournament this Thursday and Saturday. The Lady Dragons will begin tournament play at Mounds Thursday at 10 a.m. against the host Mounds Lady Eagles.

In last Thursday’s opening meeting with Cleveland, the Lady Dragons began the scoring with a run in the top of the first, then added 11 in the second and six in the third for the 18-0, run-rule, win.

The top offensive performer for Dewar in the shutout win was Marti Yaerger, who finished 2 for 3 with a single, home run, and 2 RBIs. Yaerger’s roundtripper came on a 2-run blast in the 11-run second inning. Yaerger also reached base on a walk and an error in the contest.

The other Lady Dragon base hits in the first contest came on singles by Brooke Thomas and Jaycie Berry, an RBI double by Bre Harvell, and a 3-run double by Kinsey Maldonado.

Other Dewar baserunners in the run-rule win were Maldonado (error), Harvell (2 errors), Berry (walk, error), Raygin Thomas (2 walks, RBI), Brooke Thomas (hit by pitch), Alyssa Baughman (RBI walk, error), Brailee England (RBI walk), and Korbyn Anderson (RBI walk, error).

Brooke Thomas earned the pitching win for Dewar, allowing no runs on just two hits with one walk, one strikeout, and one hit batter in three innings of work.

In last Thursday’s nightcap, the host Lady Tigers began the scoring with a run in the top of the first. The Dewar squad answered with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning for a 2-1 advantage after one inning of action.

Cleveland knotted the score at 2-2 with a run in the top of the second, then plated two runs in the top of the third to regain the lead at 4-2.

Dewar cut the Cleveland lead in half, 4-3, with a run in the bottom of the third, then after a scoreless fourth, the host Lady Tigers came out of the fifth inning with a 2-1 margin for a 6-4 lead with two innings remaining in regulation.

The Lady Dragons tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth to deadlock the score at 6-6, then the Dewar defense kept Cleveland off the scoreboard in the top of the seventh to give the Lady Dragon offense an opportunity to come away with the road sweep in their final at-bat of regulation.

In the bottom of the seventh, Kinsey Maldonado drove in the game-winning run by reaching on an RBI hit by pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the frame.

Maldonado (2 for 2, single, double, RBI, 3 hit by pitches) and Bre Harvell (2 for 4, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs) were the top hitters for Dewar in the nightcap with two hits apiece.

The other three Lady Dragon base hits came in the nightcap came on singles by Marti Yaerger, Raygin Thomas, and Korbyn Anderson.

Other Dewar baserunners in the narrow win were Yaerger (3 walks), Anderson (2 hit by pitches, RBI), Raygin Thomas (walk), Alyssa Baughman (walk, error), and Brailee England (walk, hit by pitch). Raygin Thomas and Brooke Thomas drove in runs in the sixth with RBI sacrifice flies.

Brooke Thomas earned the pitching win for Dewar in the nightcap, allowing two runs on three hits, striking out three, walking one, and hitting two in five innings of relief work.

Raygin Thomas worked the first two innings in the circle for the Lady Dragons in the nightcap, giving up four runs on one hit with four walks, one strikeout, and one hit batter.

— Thursday, August 31 Dewar 18, Cleveland 0

Dewar: 1 – 11 – 6 18 – 6 – 0 Cleveland:0- 0 -0 0 -2-7 WP: Brooke Thomas LP: Stiger HR: Dewar: Marti Yaerger — Dewar 7, Cleveland 6

Cleveland:1-1-2-0-2-0-0 6-4-2 Dewar: 2-0-1-0-1-2-1 7-7-7 Two outs when winning run scored WP: Brooke Thomas LP: Stiger HR: None