Wielding a brand new bat bought for her by her grandma Carol, Paige Perkins was a one-woman wrecking crew for the Marion Indians Thursday night.

She broke in the purple Easton Stealth with big hits all night in a home doubleheader with Class 3A 10th-ranked Center Point-Urbana.

An RBI single and her first home run of the season helped seal a 4-2 win in the opener.

Two doubles in the nightcap kept her team in the game, but they went for naught when the Pointers went on a seven-run barrage in the 12th inning to claim a 14-7 come-from-behind victory.

Winning the first one against a ranked opponent, according to Marion Coach Kim Knapp, “was huge for us.”

“It was a total team effort with a lot of unselfishness. We had several bunts and sacrifices to move runners on. And our fielding was very nice. Our execution in general was very good.”

As for the crash in the second game, Knapp said it was a combination of costly defensive lapses and plain solid hitting by Center Point-Urbana.

“They hit the ball hard that last inning. And we didn’t make the plays when we needed to. It’s hard to stop a team when they get on a roll like they did.

“But, overall, I can’t complain. We’ve got a young crew, and they never gave up.”

Mikayla Goemaat pitched a gem for the Indians in the first game, allowing just five hits. Two of them came in the first inning, when CPU took a 1-0 lead. The visitors added an unearned run in the fourth.

Beth Knapp drove in a run for the Indians in the third, Perkins knocked in another in the fourth and lead-off left-handed slap hitter Allison Scott scored in the fifth after getting an infield single to the left side.

Scott moved to second on a sacrifice, stole third and raced home when the ball was overthrown at third. “Scotty’s our little speed demon,” Knapp said. “She makes things happen with her base running.”

For her part, Scott said, “I do anything I can to get on base and help the team.”

Perkins’ towering homer over the left centerfield fence in the sixth completed the scoring. “It was a good way to start using my new bat,” she said.

Goemaat helped her own cause by twice striking out two straight batters to end innings with runners on base. “I was a little nervous,” she said. “And a couple of times the defense got us out of a sticky situation.”

The late game was a different story, as the defense made three errors in the crucial 12th inning. The Pointers also had five hits in the inning off Marion eighth grade pitcher Amber Fiser, who worked the entire 12 innings.

Her CPU counterpart, eighth grader Erica Wooldridge, also pitched the entire game and drove in the first run of the decisive seven-run onslaught. Both teams hit well the whole game, but the two young hurlers over and over were able to get outs when it counted.

The Indians were ahead 6-4 going into the seventh inning after scoring three times in the sixth, but the Pointers battled back to tie on a two-run homer by Cayla Bantz. They scored again in the 10th for a 7-6 lead.

Perkins, though, collected her second double of the game in the bottom of the inning to knot the score once more.

In splitting the twinbill, Marion’s record goes to 23-15 while Center Point-Urbana finishes the regular season at 22-9. The Indians host a round robin tournament Friday. The postseason tournament begins next week.

GAME ONE

CENTER POINT-URBANA (2)
Bryant, lf, 3 1 2 0, Wilkin, cf, 4 0 0 0, Stone, ss, 4 0 1 1, Bantz, rf, 3 1 1 0, Cassidy, 2b, 3 0 0 0, Buelow, dp, 2 0 1 0, Hearn, c, 3 0 0 1, Sickles, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Croghan, p, 3 0 1 0, Willson, 1b, 0 0 0 0. Totals 28 2 6 2.

MARION (4)
Scott, rf, 4 1 3 0, Vanourney, 2b, 1 0 0 0, Knapp, 1b, 2 0 1 2, Mohr, ss, 3 1 2 0, Fiser, 3b, 1 0 0 0, Brown, dp, 3 0 0 0, Perkins, c, 3 1 2 2, Goemaat, p, 3 0 1 0, Fuller, lf, 1 0 0 0, Nathem, cf, 0 0 0 0. Totals 21 4 9 4.

Center Point-Urbana   100 100 0 - 2 6
Marion                      001 111 x - 4 9

W - Goemaat. L - Croghan. 2B - Knapp, Mohr, Bantz, Buelow. 3B - Bryant. HR - Perkins.

GAME TWO

CENTER POINT-URBANA (14)
Bryant, lf, 7 1 3 2, Wilkin, cf, 7 1 1 0, Stone, ss, 7 2 3 2, Bantz, rf, 7 2 1 3, Cassidy, 2b, 7 2 2 1, Buelow, dp, 6 1 0 0, Hearn, c, 5 3 2 3, Willson, 1b, 6 0 3 0, Wooldridge, p, 5 2 4 3, Sickels, 3b, 0 0 0 0. Totals 57 14 19 14.

MARION (7)
Scott, rf, 5 1 1 1, Vanourney, 3b, 6 1 1 0, Knapp, 1b, 4 0 1 1, Mohr, ss, 5 2 2 0, Fiser, p, 4 0 1 0, Brown, dp, 5 1 2 1, Perkins, c, 6 1 3 2, Whitney, 2b, 5 0 0 0, Fuller, lf, 6 1 4 2, Nathem, cf, 0 0 0 0. Totals 46 7 15 7.

Center Point-Urbana   000 400 200 107 - 14 19
Marion                      002 003 000 000 -  7 15

W - Wooldridge. L - Fiser. 2B - Vanourney, Perkins, Fuller, Hearn 2. 3B - Wilkin, Wooldridge. HR - Bantz.