Hawk girls suffer three losses but 12-run-rule EV

The past week has been a challenging one for the Lynnville-Sully softball team. The girls lost a couple of close games by one run each and also came up short in a conference matchup with Tri-County. In the midst of the week, though, the Hawks did end a game early with English Valleys, another SICL competitor, and showed some strong ball playing as the regular season winds down.

WEST MARSHALL

The Hawks fell to West Marshall in a back-and-forth affair on Tuesday, June 13. L-S came close to beating the ranked team, but lost 5-4.

Sophomore Carson Fisk (#9) throws to eighth-grader Caitlin Alberts at second for an out against West Marshall on Tuesday, June 13.

Both teams came right out of the gate playing solid defense. L-S held West Marshall to only one hit in the first four innings. However, the Trojans reciprocated, allowing the Hawks only four hits and no runs. The score was 0-0 going into the fifth inning.

Both teams scored in the fifth, West Marshall with one and L-S with two. In the sixth, both teams brought another one home. Going into the seventh, West Marshall was down one, 3-2.

Then, the Trojans smacked a home run and brought two more in. The Hawks were now behind 5-3. L-S got two girls on base, but could only bring one home. The game ended, 5-4.

Sophomore Carson Fisk went three-for-four at the plate and scored twice. Freshman Mallory Loftus went two-for-four, one of the hits being a double. Sophomore Shiloh Cunningham went two-for-three with a big triple in the sixth. Both Loftus and Cunningham stole a base, the only stolen bases for the Hawks that night.

Loftus started the night pitching and completed 5-2/3 innings. In that time, she gave up two hits and struck out three. Fisk finished the remaining 1-1/3 innings, walking none and also striking three out.

The JV Hawks also played West Marshall and came out with a one-run loss as well, 7-6, after a strong five-run second inning for the Trojans.

ENGLISH VALLEYS

In a conference matchup the next night, the Hawks finished off the English Valleys Bears in four innings, ending the game early with a score of 18-6.

The Bears got an early jump on the Hawks, earning three runs in the first, two of which were home runs. The Hawks quickly responded with 14 runs in the second. English Valleys didn’t roll over, fighting back with three of their own in the bottom of the third. The Hawks finished it off by earning four in the top of the fourth, putting the 12-run rule in place.

The Hawks had an impressive 18 hits. Fisk and freshman Caitlin Alberts both pounded out a triple. Senior Brenna Lanser went three-for-three, had three RBIs, and stole three bases. L-S stole a total of 18 bases.

Loftus was credited with the win, pitching the first three innings. She allowed five hits, walked two, and struck out one. Fisk came in to relieve Loftus for the final inning.

The JV girls also celebrated a win, 10-6.

TRI-COUNTY

L-S suffered a conference loss when they hosted Tri-County on Friday, June 16. The Trojans played an errorless game, beating the Hawks 10-1.

Tri-County led the Hawks the whole game, scoring one run in both the first and the second innings. The Trojans had a big inning in the fourth, scoring eight, with the Hawks still struggling offensively. In the bottom of the fifth, the Hawks would score one run. Neither team scored the rest of the game, ending 10-1.

The Hawks couldn’t get the bats rolling and finished the night with three hits and 11 strikeouts. When the L-S girls were on base, they made the most of it, stealing seven times.

Loftus pitched the first 3-1/3 innings, and Fisk came in to finish the remaining 3-2/3 innings. The pitchers combined for a total of three strikeouts and allowed nine hits.

On the JV side, L-S had a solid 9-1 victory. Freshman Ashton Thompson scored three runs for the Hawks.

COLFAX-MINGO

The Hawks suffered another loss in a close game against Colfax-Mingo on Monday, June 19. The final score of the home game was 9-8.

“We knew tonight would be a hard-fought game,” said L-S Coach Stacey Alberts after the battle with the conference leader. “We have had two chances to capture the SICL lead and have missed our opportunity. Tonight was one of those two.”

Both L-S and the Tigerhawks were able to secure a run in the first inning. The Hawks pulled away in the second, scoring four runs, and the Tigerhawks did not score any. The Hawks were up 5-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, when Colfax brought in four. It was then tied 5-5.

Both teams scored in the fifth, the Hawks with one and the Tigerhawks with three. L-S was held at zero runs in the sixth inning and allowed Colfax one run. It was 9-6 going into the final inning. The Hawks continued to battle, squeezing in two runs, not enough to get the win.

“We played tough defense, frequently retiring the lead runner, and our outfield covered a lot of ground to keep us on top of innings” Alberts noted.

Lanser went two-for-four, pounding out L-S’s only double for the night and bringing in three RBIs.

Alberts commented on some positives she saw. “Offensively, we continued to get base runners on and were very efficient in our hits-to-scoring ratio,” she said.

The Hawks stole five bases and had five hits.

Loftus pitched 6-1/3 innings for the Hawks, and C. Alberts pitched the remaining two-thirds of an inning. Colfax had two hits off of the two L-S pitchers, who combined for six bases on balls and two strikeouts.

The loss drops the Hawks to 12-7 overall with less than two weeks to go until the regional tournament. Brackets for the tourney have been released, with L-S earning a first-round bye. On Wednesday, July 5, they will play the winner of the July 3rd Colo-Nesco versus GMG game.

“We need to make sure we stay focused on our play the rest of the season regardless of the outcomes,” Alberts said. “I really like what I am seeing from our girls at this point in the season.”

In the JV game, the Hawks racked up 15 runs to the Tigerhawks’ three. Freshman Abby Gruver scored three runs for L-S.

The L-S girls will be on the road at Montezuma on Wednesday, June 21, and at Grinnell on Thursday, June 22. Friday, they’ll host North Mahaska as part of the “Pack the Stands” event with free admittance for all, courtesy of the L-S Athletic Boosters. The Hawks finish this week with a tournament at Marshalltown on Saturday. They’ll play back-to-back games at 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m.

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