Chris Shirer can not figure out the solution, but he's aware of the problem.

The Marysville High School softball team is struggling with timely hitting.

"It's been our Achilles' heel," Shirer said. "We're hitting the ball, we're just not hitting in timely situations."

Despite the offensive struggles, Marysville was 17-6 after defeating Westerville North 3-0. Entering last Friday, the Monarchs were one of three teams in the OCC-Cardinal Division with two losses. Olentangy Liberty led the conference at 9-2, followed by Marysville and Westerville Central at 8-2.

Marysville concludes the regular season Monday at home against Westerville North, Wednesday at Dublin Scioto and Friday at home against Westerville Central.

Marysville's search for offensive took a hit last Wednesday when leadoff hitter Shelby Allmon broke her right ankle.

"Shelby was on first and a girl hit a line drive to third base," Shirer said. "Allmon was going back, slid into the bag and when she hit the bag she snapped her ankle."

Allmon was leading Marys-ville with a .438 batting average. Shirer expects Allmon to miss the remainder of the season.

"It's going to be tough without her," Shirer said. "We're scrambling a little bit."

With the offense struggling, Marysville will rely on its pitching. Dani Steepe and Chelsea Burns have alternated starts this season. Through 21 games, Steepe was 9-2 with a 1.00 ERA and Burns was 6-2 with a 1.49 ERA.

"Dani is more of a riseball, screwball type pitcher," Shirer said. "Burns is more of a dropball, screwball pitcher who gets more ground balls.

"Our pitching has been good and our defense has improved. Right now we're just trying to find a way to get better. We're trying to find offense."

•The boys lacrosse team beat Springfield 12-6 for its first victory April 14.

"It meant a lot to us," coach Art Baschnagel said. "For a first-year program to be able to compete and win accounts for how hard the kids are working and how much they're learning about the game."

Marysville was 1-3 entering last Saturday's game against the Columbus City Schools Lacrosse Club. The Monarchs play four more regular-season games beginning Saturday at Springboro Lacrosse Club followed by games at home against CCS on May 14 and Clinton County on May 15, and at Pickerington Central on May 17.

"We're going to take our knocks because we're a new team," Baschnagel said. "We just keep trying to get ourselves in position to stay competitive in games."

Although four games are scheduled, playing those games may or may not occur because of a shortage of lacrosse referees. If Marysville plays on a busy night, their game may be one of the first to be postponed.

"The referees have a priority list," Baschnagel said. "On a heavier day, we may end up getting canceled because of a lack of referees. We've already had two games canceled because of that."

Through four games, Adam Capuano led Marysville with 10 goals, followed by three goals apiece from Gage Barton, Nigel Hewlett and Jordan Tank. Tank led the Monarchs with five assists. At goalie, Justis Williams and Alec Todd appeared in all four games with each recording 28 saves.

"We're still all so new, any given day one of our players can step up and make a difference," Baschnagel said. "We've seen consistent play across the board."