Central races to top-10 softball sweep
Central College
PELLA—Reckless late-inning baserunning translated to winning runs as the No. 3 Central College softball team rallied past No. 7 Coe College 3-2 and 5-4 in a pivotal Iowa Conference doubleheader Wednesday.
The victories leave the Dutch at 29-3 overall and alone in first place in league play at 10-0. Coe dropped to 27-7 overall and 9-3 in the conference.
Central had to battle back from first-inning deficits in both games. Coe struck for two runs in the first inning of the opener and with Kohawk ace Ashlee Simon (19-2) in the pitching circle, that’s typically enough. But Simon, who is averaging 14 strikeouts a game, walked two batters and hit two others for a Central run in the first inning, then catcher Caitlyn Meyer (sophomore, Newton) lined a run-scoring two-out hit to left field in the third inning to tie it at 2-2.
That’s the way it stayed until the bottom of the seventh. First baseman Katie Tenboer (senior, Morrison, Ill.) reached first base on a fielder’s choice following a lead-off single by second baseman Angela Davis (junior, West Des Moines, Valley HS). Tenboer is still nursing an injury and is often lifted for a pinch-runner, but with a one-out full count on pitcher Kiley Lythberg (senior, Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS), coach George Wares boldly sent her with the pitch. Lythberg belted the ball to the right-center field fence and Tenboer chugged home just ahead of the throw for the gamewinner.
“I don’t think there are too many people who are going to send Katie on 3-2 with one out because obviously that could have turned into a strikeout, throw-out double play,” Wares smiled. “But it was a base hit and we weren’t going to stop her. Katie probably hasn’t run that hard and that fast in a long time.”
Coe brought home an unearned run in the first inning of the nightcap. This time Central responded with a four-run second inning. Meyer hit an RBI double to right-center and freshman shortstop Annie Sarcone (Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) lined her fifth homer of the year, a two-run shot deep over the left-field fence.
But Coe stormed back with three runs in the sixth to make it 4-4. With one out in the bottom of the sixth, Sarcone’s pop-up was dropped just behind second base and Sarcone aggressively took second base on the play, sliding just under the tag. That allowed her to score what proved to be the winner on a single to left by center fielder Holly Von Fumetti (junior, Johnston).
Lythberg (14-2), recorded both wins. She went the distance in the opener, allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Brie Haycraft (freshman, Eldridge, North Scott HS) started the second game, going 5.1 innings. She was charged with three earned runs on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Lythberg returned for the final 1.2 innings. She yielded two hits and a walk but worked out of a seventh-inning jam for the win.
“I thought Brie pitched real well,” Wares said. “She gave up one run early when our defense let her down a little bit and she hung an off-speed pitch on a home run, but Coe can really hit the ball and I’m happy with how both of our pitchers threw today.”
Central’s next assignment is not any simpler. Defending league champion Luther College, rated No. 11 at 26-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference, visits Pella Saturday. Wares said the Dutch must maintain the same approach that’s allowed them to prevail in 29 of their last 30 games.
“It doesn’t change,” he said. “We expect the same type of games we had today on Saturday. I think our team has been doing very well at taking it one pitch at a time. If we keep doing that we’ll be fine.”
Game time is 2 p.m. at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field. A video webcast of the games and live stats will be streamed at www.central.edu/athletics.
Wares nears milestone—Wares needs just one more win to become the second coach in NCAA Division III history to win 900 games. He’s the leader among active coaches with an 899-297-3 (.750) record in 27 seasons, with four NCAA championships and 22 NCAA tournament appearances. He’s also only eight victories shy of becoming the all-time Division III wins leader. The late Donna Newberry of Muskingum (Ohio) compiled a 906-419-1 record over 36 years.
