For the second time in three days, North Callaway was facing an Eastern Missouri Conference opponent that recently came out of COVID-19 quarantine. It was not a repeat of Tuesday's 6-1 loss to Clopton.
The Ladybirds scored seven runs on 12 hits against the Lady Indians to win 7-3, with four having at least two hits. The Lady Indians were coming off three straight shutout victories, including the prior two within conference.
Junior Jalyn Leible led the offense, going 3-for-4 while scoring three and driving in two.
North Callaway (3-3, 2-2 EMO) wasn't able to get anything going Tuesday until the seventh inning against Clopton's Shana Yates. Ladybird senior Ryelle Schmauch was the winning pitcher Thursday after throwing seven innings of three-run ball, giving up six hits and three walks while striking out three.
Head coach Mariah McKee liked how the offense responded against Elsberry (4-3, 2-1 EMO) after runs were so hard to come by in the previous game.
"It was a really good conference win bouncing back from a game where the opposing pitcher was good as Clopton's was," she said. "I'm very proud of the team's overall performance."
North Callaway will play in a Saturday tournament in Cairo, with its first game being at 10 a.m. against Community R-VI (6-2). The Ladybirds are also guaranteed to face New Bloomfield (6-4) as the Lady Wildcats are also in their pool.