Central rolls up lopsided softball wins
EDWARDSVILLE, ILL.—Building some early-season momentum, the Central College softball team coasted to a pair of victories Sunday to complete a 3-1 weekend at the Fontbonne (Mo.) Invitational.
The Dutch rolled past Hanover College (Ind.) 8-1 and the University of the Ozarks (Ark.) 7-1, racking up 24 hits on the day.
“You can tell we’ve been outside for a day because our approach was better offensively and our short game was better,” coach George Wares said.
Pitchers Sydni Huisman (senior, Treynor) threw six more shutout innings against Ozarks, yielding just a hit and a walk while striking out five in moving to 2-0.
“Sydni was in control throughout her six innings and never really got into much trouble,” coach George Wares said.
Morgan Schaben (senior, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) got the victory over Hanover, throwing the first three innings and returning to pitch the seventh. She allowed four hits in four innings with two strikeouts and no walks. Freshman Emma Beck (Holland, Grundy Center HS) pitched three innings, yielding a run on five hits.
“Morgan starting (the game) was a little different,” Wares said. “We’re trying to figure things out. Emma was OK. She came in a little tired from yesterday.”
Central played 17 players against Ozarks.
“I thought it was important (that the reserves saw action),” Wares said. “Some of them are going to help us down the road, obviously. And we needed to get Emma Lenox (sophomore, Fremont, Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont HS) some time behind the plate because Madison Farrington (senior, Marshalltown, East Marshall HS) is going to get tired at times, especially in Arizona.”
Third baseman Franie Burnett (junior, Ankeny, Centennial HS) had five hits and three stolen bases on the day while second baseman Haley Bach (sophomore, Council Bluffs, Lewis Central HS) had four hits and scored four runs. First baseman Megan Stuhr (junior, Sigourney) had three hits.
Central is off until heading to Arizona for the Tucson Invitational Games during spring break. The Dutch open play there Friday, March 10 against Bethany Lutheran College (Minn.) at noon (Central Time) and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.) at 2:30 p.m. An audio stream of the games with the Voice of the Dutch, Trevor Castle, can be accessed at kniakrls.com. Central will play 12 games on the trip over eight days.
The Dutch haven’t always had an opportunity for early games before their spring-break trip in previous years, or even an outdoor practice.
“I think we’re more ready,” Wares said. “We had really good indoor practices and then we got to go outside on the (artificial) turf and scrimmage. And these games just progressed it to another level.
“If you’d said we’d go 3-1 it would have been fine but I think how we got to 3-1, with some really solid improvement is encouraging. It gives us a positive mindset but also a good idea of what we’ve got to work on before we go to Arizona.”
