Central opens up softball attack
Central College
TUCSON, ARIZ.—Shortstop Annie Sarcone (sophomore, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) and first baseman Kyrie Hale (senior, Lee’s Summit, Mo., West HS) each knocked in five runs as the No. 9-ranked Central College softball team rebounded from a disappointing loss by hammering Denison University (Ohio) 12-2 and Lakeland College (Wis.) 12-1 in a pair of five-inning games Thursday.
Sarcone and Hale each had four RBIs in the win over Denison (5-2). Central (10-2) batted around in both the fourth and fifth innings to break the game open. Sarcone is hitting a sizzling .563 for the year while Hale is batting .481. The Dutch had 10 hits, including two by second baseman Angela Davis (senior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) and third baseman Whitney Sowers (freshman, Marshalltown). Sarcone is
Freshman Mallory Schulenberg (Kansas City, Mo., St. Pius X HS) improved to 3-0. She yielded five hits and one earned run with no walks and five strikeouts in five innings.
“Mallory continues to improve,” coach George Wares said.. “We got a good effort from her.”
Central erupted for eight runs in the first inning against Lakeland and coasted to the win as Wares again made extensive use of his bench. Sarcone, center fielder Holly Von Fumetti (senior, Johnston) and right fielder Emily Te Brink (junior, Le Mars) each had two hits.
Te Brink reached base in all seven of her plate appearances for the day as she had three hits, four walks and three stolen bases. She has a team-high 10 steals for the season as Central has racked up a 46-4 overall stolen base advantage.
Pitcher Rhianna Fleetwood (junior, Sycamore, Ill.) limited Lakeland to one unearned run on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts as she improved to 4-1.
“Rhianna had a pretty good bounceback after struggling a bit in the first inning,” Wares said.
Central had what Wares termed subpar efforts Wednesday in a 5-3 win over Sul Ross State (Texas) and a 10-5 setback against Wis.-La Crosse.
“The nice thing after such a tough day because of how we played, was to have wins like this,” he said. “Even though they were lopsided, our players maintained their intensity throughout the day. We did a lot of things well, got some good at-bats and had an opportunity to get a lot of people on the field.”
Wares liked the play of his reserves.
“If I had to single somebody out, Jordan Overland (sophomore, Madrid, Boone HS) has had an exceptional week so far,” he said. “She was steady at third base when we put her there and today was very good at shortstop. She’s also had some quality at-bats, especially considering she’d never tried slapping until last year. I thought every reserve we put in contributed something.”
The Dutch only have a few hours of rest before returning to Lincoln Park to take on Dickinson (Pa.) at 8 a.m. (Pacific Time) and Trinity (Texas) at 10 a.m.
“Trinity, at least on paper, could be the stiffest challenge we’ll face all week,” Wares said. “Their 10-6 record is a little deceiving. They already have wins over East Texas Baptist and Texas-Tyler, which is pretty impressive.”
