Central rebounds with softball sweep
Central College
TUCSON, ARIZ.—It took less than 24 hours for the Central College softball team to stage the kind of turnaround coach George Wares was looking for as the Dutch toppled Oneonta State (N.Y.) 7-2 and Southwestern (Texas) 6-5 in eight innings.
That evened the season mark at 2-2 and somewhat atoned for a dismal 0-2 opening day Friday.
Left fielder Bethany Koskamp (senior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) had five hits in the two games, sparking a Central attack that generated 24 hits and was far more productive in the clutch.
“We just battled and battled today,” Wares said. “It’s really tough when you start like we did, when there are such high expectations. We were very bad yesterday. For these players to have to live with that for 24 hours and have that bad feeling is a tough thing to do. But I thought today we came out and gave a much better effort in terms of competiveness, in the second game, especially.”
In that second game, against highly regarded Southwestern, the Dutch bore little resemblance to the team that struggled through Friday. Central jumped on top with a four-run first inning, highlighted by a two-run single by catcher Caitlyn Meyer (sophomore, Newton). She then scored on a triple to right by designated player Rachael Everingham (junior, Georgetown, Ill., Georgetown-Ridge Farm HS). The tandem struck again in the third when Meyer singled, stole a base and scored on Everingham’s single to left.
Pitcher Kiley Lythberg (senior, Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS) carried a 5-2 into the sixth, when it vanished with back-to-back Southwestern home runs to left field. But she pitched around a two-out double in the seventh to force extra innings.
Using the international tiebreaker and starting the extra frame with a runner on second base, the Dutch gambled on the base paths as they’ve done so often before. Angela Davis (junior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) streaked home from second base on a ground-ball out to first, making a clinic-worthy slide around the tag at the plate. Lythberg then emerged unscathed in the bottom of the eighth her first win of the young season. She gave up seven hits and one walk with four strikeouts.
“Kiley, to do what she did in the bottom of the seventh and then to come back in the tiebreaker was a pretty gutsy performance,” Wares said. “You look at what she did in two days. She was lights out for most of the day against St. Mary’s Friday. She was a little bit out of gas today but she showed the competitiveness we need from her.”
The Dutch struck for a four-run first frame against Oneonta State as well, but needed no theatrics to secure the victory. Lythberg highlighted the opening inning with a three-run homer to left field. Davis, who singled and scored in the first, doubled and scored in a two-run third. Central added a tally in the sixth. Right fielder Emily Te Brink (sophomore, LeMars) had three hits and a walk in the game.
Rhianna Fleetwood (sophomore, Sycamore, Ill.) notched her first win, allowing one earned run on six hits with one walk in four innings. Brie Haycraft (freshman, Eldridge, North Scott HS) recorded her first collegiate save with three scoreless innings, giving up one hit and one walk with two strikeouts.
“Brie was good,” Wares said. “She came in and gave us three solid innings against a pretty good-hitting team.”
Sunday Central takes on Augsburg (Minn.) at 2 p.m. (Iowa time) and Dickinson (Pa.) at 4 p.m. An audio webcast of the first game will be available through www.kniakrls.com and can also be accessed through the Central athletics website at www.central.edu/athletics.
