Central ends pre-conference slate with softball split
PELLA-Second baseman Haley Bach (junior, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) reached base seven times Saturday, but the No. 24-ranked Central College softball team still lacked some offensive spark in a doubleheader split with the College of Saint Benedict (Minn.)
After an 8-1 victory in the opener, the Dutch (13-6) let a 2-0 sixth-inning lead slip away and Saint Benedict nabbed a 6-3, 11-inning win.
Bach was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs in the first game and the Bennies (3-11) looked like they didn’t want anything to do with her in the nightcap, as she drew walks in her next three plate appearances, before singling in the seventh inning. Then after Central fell behind 3-2 in the ninth, Bach came up with two aboard and her smash to shortstop was misplayed, allowing left fielder Megan Doty (5th-year, Grinnell) to scamper home from second base with the tying run.
In the 11th, however, Saint Benedict broke it open with three runs on three hits to steal away with the win.
Coach George Wares was quick to note that while the Bennies are 3-11, they’ve played one of Division III’s most demanding schedules. But that doesn’t ease the sting of dropping the program’s longest game in 13 years.
“They’re better than their record,” he said. “Normally if you lose to a 3-11 team you think, whoa. But that’s not a typical 3-11 team. But still, this was a sweep we had in our sights.”
Pitcher Emma Beck (sophomore, Holland, Grundy Center HS) absorbed the hard-luck loss. She departed with a 2-0 lead after hitting a batter in the sixth, giving way to Morgan Schaben (5th-year, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) before returning in the ninth, followed by Schaben again in the 11th. Beck threw 7.1 innings overall, getting charged with three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. Schaben, who notched her second save in game one, gave up three runs on three hits and a walk over 3.2 innings.
“One thing I’ll take from this one is Emma Beck was a lot better,” Wares said. “She seems like she’s back. It’s easy to say now, but if there’s one thing I could do differently, it probably would have been to just keep her in the game and let her try to work her way out of it.”
Central was limited to five hits in the game, including a pair by center fielder Emma Johnson (5th-year, Davenport, Assumption Catholic HS), who had three hits on the day.
The Dutch took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the opener, then steadily pulled away, getting five runs in the fifth to nearly end it early. Bach had two doubles among her three hits and stole her ninth base of the year.
“The latter part of our trip to Arizona, she wasn’t as good as she’s been but she came out of it today, so that’s encouraging,” Wares said. “And Emma Johnson has been back to what we think she can be, so if they can continue that at one and two (in the batting order), then they set the table.”
Catcher Rylee Dunkin (freshman, Hamilton, Twin Cedars HS) had two hits, driving in a run and scoring one as the Dutch had 10 hits overall. Pitcher Sydni Huisman (5th-year, Treynor) improved to 5-2, limiting the Bennies to a run on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Schaben retired all seven batters she faced in the final 2.1 innings, striking out one.
The American Rivers slate starts with two of the league’s best looming. The Dutch take on preseason favorite Coe College (15-3 overall, 2-0 conference) next Saturday with a home twinbill starting at 1 p.m. at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field. Then Wartburg College (12-9), which swept Saint Benedict at Waverly Friday, visits Wednesday, April 10 for two more games.
Perhaps it’s just as well that the conference schedule start is daunting so the Dutch will not dwell on how the pre-conference slate ended, Wares said.
“Everybody was disappointed but we have a long weekend and then a week of practice before Coe to kind of reboot the energy and realize that we’re starting the conference season,” he said. “I think it’s good we’re playing someone like Coe right away because I think it allows you to forget about (Saturday’s split) quicker. Our players know what kind of a battle it was at Cedar Rapids last year (a pair of hard-fought Central wins) and we have enough veterans who understand what it’s going to be like.”
