Central softball squad topples No. 24 Washington
Central College
GRINNELL—Late rallies produced two wins Friday but left the Central College softball team with contrasting emotions.
The No. 9-ranked Dutch came from behind to topple No. 24 Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) 3-2 but then had to survive a record-tying seven errors before subduing Dubuque, 10-6, on a windswept afternoon at the one-day Grinnell Hy-Vee Classic.
Central (16-2) has just a few hours to sort it all out before it takes its 16-game winning streak into an Iowa Conference-opening doubleheader with Wartburg Saturday.
The win over likely NCAA Division III tournament contender Washington-St. Louis (17-6-1) was among the most significant of the pre-conference slate. Pitcher Kylie Lythberg (senior, Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS) dueled high school rival Claire Voris, who earned all-America honors in 2009.
Lythberg (6-1) scattered six hits in seven innings, striking out five and walking none. But after Central scratched out a second-inning run on a walk, single and a double-steal, the Bears scored twice in the fourth for a 2-1 lead.
Dutch catcher Caitlyn Meyer (sophomore, Newton) made it 2-2 when she led off the top of the fifth with her first homer of the year.
“That was a big hit for Caitlyn,” coach George Wares said. “The thing I liked about that at-bat was that she fouled off a number of pitches before taking advantage of a little bit of a mistake. That gave us a big boost.”
Central went on top to stay in the sixth. Second baseman Angela Davis (junior, West Des Moines, Valley HS) attempted to advance left fielder Bethany Koskamp (senior, Cedar Rapids, Kennedy HS) and reached safely on a wild throw following her sacrifice bunt. Davis stole second and advanced to third when Koskamp was out on a play at the plate, then scored on Lythberg’s grounder.
Washington had baserunners in each of the final three innings but came up empty.
Central mustered five hits, including two by Koskamp, who also made a critical grab of a sixth-inning line drive to left field when Washington-St. Louis had the tying run at second base.
But it only took two pitches for Dubuque to deflate the Dutch in the nightcap. The Spartans’ Shawna Dole led off by taking advantage of two Central errors on her line drive to right field as she circled the bases.
“It’s so frustrating when you have that high from the first game and just come out very, very flat in the second game,” coach George Wares. “You try everything you can think of to avoid it. But it just felt like we were playing behind the rest of the way.”
The Dutch quickly regained the advantage on the scoreboard, batting around in a five-run first inning. First baseman Katie Tenboer (senior, Morrison, Ill.) and Lythberg each delivered RBI hits.
But Dubuque clawed within 5-4 in the fifth and the Dutch had to briefly bring back Lythberg to get out of a jam. Central again swiftly regained command, batting around again in a five-run fifth inning. Koskamp and Davis each had run-scoring hits.
Starting pitcher Rhianna Fleetwood (sophomore, Sycamore, Ill.) returned to close out the win. Fleetwood (7-0) yielded 11 hits but only two earned runs in six innings, walking three and striking out three.
Central was actually outhit, 12-11, and the team’s seven errors tied the school mark against Neb.-Omaha (March 6, 1998) and tied against William Penn (April 19, 2001).
“We’ve got to commit to improving our overall defense,” Wares said. “You can’t make that many errors and expect to win.”
Still there was much Wares liked in Central’s first action since completing spring-break play in Arizona 13 days earlier, most notably Koskamp’s continued steady play. She had three hits and a walk against Dubuque and for the day was on base six times with five hits and a walk, stole two bases and scored twice.
“She struck out in her first time up but every at-bat after that was productive,” Wares said. “She’s doing exactly what you want at the plate. She stays within herself.”
Lythberg was consistent as well.
“I love the way Kiley threw,” Wares said.
Central and Wartburg clash at 2 p.m. Saturday at the A.N. Kuyper Athletics Complex field. The Knights are 8-13 but have four players hitting .340 or better and derailed Central in Waverly a year ago, 8-4, before Central secured a split with a 7-3 triumph.
“Wartburg’s very capable,” Wares said. “They did it to us last year when they knocked us off pretty decisively.”
Playing two league games less than 24 hours after a non-conference road trip isn’t ideal, but Wares wanted to avoid an even lengthier layoff.
“Ideally we would have played midweek, but it’s good to have played before we start playing conference games,” he said.
Saturday’s games will be aired on KRLS-FM (92.1) and www.kniakrls.com with Trevor Castle and Eric Gotschall. The broadcast will also be part of a video webstream at www.central.edu/athletics, with live stats available as well.
