Grant Union/Prairie City's Raney Anderson takes a cut at the ball on Friday, March 17, 2023 at the Seventh Street Sports  Complex in John Day. The Lady Pros defeated Union/Cove 17-0.

The Grant Union/Prairie City softball team is picking up right where it left off last season.

The team — which went 26-2 last year — was dominant in its season opener on Friday, March 17, needing just three innings to lay a 17-0 shellacking on visiting Union/Cove at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John Day. A game with Lakeview that was to happen on the same day was canceled.

Union/Cove batted first, failing to score a run in the top of the first inning. The Lady Prospectors wasted little time getting on the board once their turn at the plate came.

The scoring parade started with a towering Halle Parsons three-run homer to give the Lady Pros a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Laken McKay would add an RBI single to make the score 4-0 after the first inning.

The second inning saw the Lady Bobcats again unable to score. Parsons showcased her big bat one more as she hammered a two-run shot to give the Lady Pros a 6-0 lead.

The Lady Pros increased that lead using small ball. An RBI single by Lilly Rockhill, a two-run single by McKay and an RBI single by Parsons had the home team up 11-0 after the second frame.

Another scoreless effort in the third inning by the Lady Bobcats allowed the Lady Pros to put the game out of reach. Sivanna Hodge got the scoring started for the Lady Pros with a solo home run that extended the lead to 12-0.

A Reece Jacobs RBI single brought the game to 13-0. The Lady Pros would add another two runs on the heels of a sacrifice single and RBI single to push their lead to 15-0.

Then Parsons provided the exclamation point with her third home run in as many innings. A two-run shot, Parsons’ homer brought the score to 17-0.

The failure of the Lady Bobcats to score coupled with the 17-run deficit at the end of the third inning triggered the mercy rule, leaving the Lady Pros with a 17-0 win after three innings.

Parsons paced the Lady Pros on offense, finishing the game 4-4 from the plate with three home runs and an astonishing eight runs batted in. McKay finished 2-3 at the plate with three RBIs.

Jacobs rounded out Lady Pro leaders at the plate, finishing 2-3 at bat with a pair of RBIs. Ace pitcher Drew Williams struck out seven batters while not surrendering a hit in three innings of work.

Head coach Zach Williams said he isn’t ready to say his team is in midseason form yet, considering how little time the team has had playing outside this season. Williams also acknowledged the canceled Lakeiew game, adding that the team certainly wants to reschedule and play Lakeview — the team that defeated them in last year’s state title game — sometime this season.

When asked to compare the lineup this season to last season’s, Williams said he hates comparing teams but that this year’s team will be “dangerous top to bottom.”

“We also have some young girls pushing the starters, and that is a big deal as well,” he added.

Williams ended by saying that the team is excited about the upcoming season and hopes that the weather will cooperate. The Lady Pros are in action next on Thursday, March 23, when they host Burns/Crane if the weather permits.

Start time for the game is 4 p.m. at the Seventh Street Sports Complex in John Day.