GENEVA — One of the goals this season for the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva softball team was to reduce the number of errors from last year.

Wednesday, April 07, 1999

GENEVA — One of the goals this season for the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva softball team was to reduce the number of errors from last year.

After one game, the Panthers are flawless in that department.

NRHEG played errorless defense in its season opener and defeated Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 5-2 in a Gopher Conference game at Geneva Tuesday.

&uot;Basically, everyone did a good job in the field,&uot; said Panthers coach Wendy Schultz. &uot;One of our keys for this year was to cut down on errors.&uot;

The Panthers did well enough in the other area, according to Schultz.

&uot;We also wanted to keep our batting average as high as last year, when we hit .385 as a team,&uot; said the coach. &uot;We batted .245 today. We can definitely improve on that, but it was pretty good for the opening game.&uot;

Amanda Moxon, last year’s Tribune Softball Player of the Year, allowed only two hits while pitching all seven innings for the Panthers. She struck out 11 and walked two.

The Panthers plated their first run in the second inning when Holly Waldhauser walked and eventually scored when Moxon hit into an error.

The home team added another in the third as Amanda Hullopeter singled and scored on a bases-loaded walk to Waldhauser.

In the fifth, Amy Kubista and Missie Wayne walked and scored on singles by Cindy Adams and Waldhauser.

Consecutive singles by Jessica Perry, Moxon, Lindsey Cornelius and Hullopeter produced another run in the sixth.

Hullopeter was the only NRHEG player with more than one hit, going 2-for-4.

The Panthers host Hayfield in a nonconference game Thursday. It’s scheduled to be played at New Richland but may be moved to Geneva if Legion Field is unplayable, which was the case Tuesday.