Two homers, two runs get Alton past East

Alyson Haegele was in need of a little support from her teammates Thursday afternoon at Alton High.

Lynna Fisher provided some.

Fisher’s fourth-inning home run broke a tie and Haegele’s pitching closed out the Alton Redbirds’ 2-1 victory over the Belleville East Lancers in a Southwestern Conference softball game in Godfrey.

Alton, which has won four in a row following a four-game losing streak, is 5-4 and 2-0 in the SWC. East had its four-game winning streak snapped and falls to 10-8 and 2-2 in the league.

Emma Kiger’s home run in the second inning drew the Redbirds even at 1-1 after the Lancers plated a run in the first. The homers from Kiger and Fisher were the only hits Alton could muster against East pitcher Brooklyn Thouvenot, who retired the final eight Redbirds she faced to finish with three strikeouts and one walk.

The Lancers led off the seventh inning with back-to-back singles, but Haegele stopped the threat with flyout, groundout, groundout to secure the win. East had won 10 of the previous 12 games vs. Alton.