14 innings–Central softball squad rallies but falls 8-7
Central College
DECORAH—First baseman Katie Tenboer (senior, Morrison, Ill.) reached base seven times. Freshman pitcher Brie Haycraft (freshman, Eldridge, North Scott HS) scrapped her way through more than 11 innings in the circle. And the No. 5-ranked Central College softball team staged yet another backs-to-the-wall comeback.
But after nearly 3.5 hours and 14 innings, it wasn’t enough as No. 7 Coe College (35-7) outlasted the Dutch 8-7 in the longest game in Iowa Conference tournament history Friday. Central (35-6) moves into the loser’s bracket of the six-team tourney, taking on Simpson College at noon, with the winner playing again at 4 p.m. The tournament concludes Saturday.
The first five innings were less than memorable as the Dutch entered the sixth inning trailing 5-2. But hits by Tenboer, designated player Kiley Lythberg (senior, Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS) and catcher Caitlyn Meyer (sophomore, Newton) made it 5-4 only to have Coe add an insurance run in the top of the seventh. The Kohawks then brought in strikeout ace Ashlee Simon (24-2) to close.
But the Dutch weren’t done. Second baseman Angela Davis (junior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) nearly ended the game, crushing a bases-loaded double off the fence, to tie the game at 6-6. Central loaded the bases again that inning with no outs, but couldn’t bring home the winner.
Central’s defense returned the favor when Coe filled the bases with no outs in the 10th inning as third baseman Rachel Whiteside (senior, Sheffield, Ill., Bureau Valley HS) triggered a rally-killing double play.
Haycraft (8-2) gave up five runs before departing in the fifth inning, but when she returned in the seventh to replace reliever Rhianna Fleetwood (sophomore, Sycamore, Ill.), she shut down the Kohawks for seven scoreless innings. Coe finally broke through in the 14th with a solo home run by Callie Morningstar highlighting a two-run frame.
Yet seven innings after its seventh-inning uprising, the Dutch staged another. Davis struck again with her second homer of the year and Tenboer singled before the rally fizzled as darkness approached.
It was a record day for Tenboer, who has reached base eight straight times after homering in her last at-bat Wednesday against Grinnell. She’s the first Central player to reach base seven times in a game and only the third to have five hits in a game, tying the mark set by Julie Nelson in 1991 and tied by Molly Parrott in 2001. Tenboer belted her seventh homer, her 10th double and three singles while being intentionally walked twice. She also drove in two runs, tying shortstop Annie Sarcone (freshman, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) for the team RBI lead with 42, also a school mark.
Davis had three hits and three RBIs while left fielder Bethany Koskamp (senior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) and Meyer each had two hits. Central outhit Coe 16-15.
“We had some breakdowns early in the game that got us behind 5-2, but it was a pretty classic softball game,” coach George Wares said. “Both teams had opportunities and there were mistakes on both ends.”
Haycraft was tagged for six runs on 11 hits with seven walks, three of which were intentional, while striking out five.
Wares said the 3-hour, 26-minute game proved more than a need for bathrooms in softball dugouts.
“Brie performed really well,” Wares said. “A lot of people grew up today. There are some things we still don’t do well, but we’re definitely getting better.”
Making the quick turnaround against Simpson Friday will be a difficult test, and coming back through the loser’s bracket is an even more daunting task, but Wares isn’t looking ahead.
“It’s important that we come out and give a good effort,” he said. “We just want to go pitch by pitch. It would be nice to bounce back and get a couple of wins and go from there.”
