Central outscores Mayville State for softball win
Central College
TUCSON, ARIZ. — First baseman Kaitlyn Matzen (senior, Manly, Central Springs HS) drove in four runs with three hits as the Central College softball team relied on its bats to outlast Mayville State (N.D.) 9-7 Wednesday.
However, a contest with highly regarded Dickinson State (N.D.) was called off in the fifth inning as unseasonably cool weather and rain moved into southern Arizona. The game will not be rescheduled. Dickinson was leading 6-3 and Central had just put two runners on base when the game was called.
Both opponents are NAIA schools and Wednesday’s results do not impact NCAA rankings. Coach George Wares said even with the rainout, the Dutch will benefit from the experience they gained against Dickinson State.
“I wish we could have more games like that,” he said. “I was very impressed with (Dickinson State). They’re very athletic and, from top to bottom, there’s not an easy out in their lineup.”
Freshman Annie DeVries (Eldridge, North Scott HS) pitched all four innings.
“I thought she handled it pretty well other than one inning,” Wares said.
On paper, Mayville State (1-12) shouldn’t have put up as much resistance but the Dutch struggled to put the game away after jumping to a 6-0 advantage after two innings. Wares made several lineup switches and that may have contributed to a ragged defensive performance that saw Central commit six errors.
“I’d like to believe if we kept the lineup in flow the game would not have gotten as ugly as it did,” Wares said. “But we made the decision ahead of time that we wanted to see other players and we also wanted to rest some players. The other part was that after we went up 6-0, I think we quit playing and started going through the motions, which you can’t do.”
But Wares said he didn’t want his players making excuses.
“Obviously there are still a lot of things we need to get better at,” he said. “Our pitching needs to get better. Compound that with some of the relatively routine plays we didn’t make and all of a sudden, we’re giving five or six outs an inning. Fortunately we were able to score enough runs.”
Trisha Smith (junior, New Hampton) improved to 4-1, giving up four earned runs in 5.1 innings on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Transfer Jaelyn Monhollon (sophomore, Topeka, Kan., Shawnee Heights HS) yielded one earned run on three hits with no walks and a strikeout in 1.2 innings.
The Dutch used 17 players, who produced 11 hits. Matzen lined her second homer of the year over the left-center field fence, a three-run shot in the first inning. She also had a pair of singles. Freshman Tabitha Taylor (Grimes, Dallas Center-Grimes HS) tripled and scored and third baseman Whitney Sowers (senior, Marshalltown) delivered a two-run double. Second baseman Abbey Strajack (senior, Davenport, Assumption HS) had two hits and two runs scored and also stole two more bases, giving her a team-high 10 steals for the young season.
Wares did see things he liked from a promising freshman class and highlighted a few of them.
“Paige Dickel (freshman, New Virginia, Norwalk HS) had a hit, Brooke Brommel (freshman, St. Charles, I-35 HS) really did a nice job on a squeeze bunt on a tough pitch, obviously Taylor has moved around the outfield and continues to play well, Caitlyn Saxton (freshman, Leon, Central Decatur HS) did well as a pinch-runner and DeVries and (catcher) Emily Walton (freshman, Cedar Rapids, Jefferson HS) got more valuable time,” Wares said. “They’ll be an important part of the program.”
Central will have its third meeting with Wis.-La Crosse Thursday at 11 a.m. before facing Puget Sound (Wash.) at 1:30 p.m. The Dutch edged Wis.-La Crosse 5-4 indoors at Rochester, Minn. March 6, but were dumped by the Eagles Sunday in Arizona, 6-2. Wis.-La Crosse is 10-4 and Puget Sound is 2-16.
“These are some highlighted games,” Wares said. “Puget Sound is much better than their record shows. They play in a very strong league. We’ve got a difficult last six games this week as we move forward to the Iowa part of our schedule.”
