Central stumbles in conference softball action

Central College

PELLA—The No. 3 Central College softball team struggled to come up with clutch hits Saturday as No. 11 Luther College handed the Dutch their first pair of Iowa Conference setbacks, 9-5 and 1-0.

Both teams combined for 22 hits in the opener. Luther was on the scoreboard first, posting four runs in the third inning with the help of a three-run error. The Norse continued the attack with multiple runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Down 9-2 in the seventh, the Dutch attempted a late comeback, notching three runs. Central stranded 11 base runners.

“Give Luther credit,” coach George Wares said. “We had a great opportunity early in the first game when we had runners on second and third with nobody out and couldn’t score. That seemed to be the theme of the day offensively. We had many opportunities but couldn’t come up with the hit.”

The Dutch didn’t fare any better in the second game, leaving six runners on base and cracking just four hits.

“(Girvan) threw a very good game,” Wares said. “We had some opportunities but didn’t get a whole lot of execution.”

Starting pitcher Kiley Lythberg (senior, Mount Prospect, Ill., Prospect HS) took both losses, dropping to 14-4. She tossed the first four innings of the opener and the complete second game, scattering seven hits for five runs, walking three and striking out three. Sophomore Rhianna Fleetwood (Sycamore, Ill.) completed the first game, yielding 10 hits while walking one and striking out one in three innings.

“The upside was I thought Kiley gutted it out despite some struggles,” Wares said.

First baseman Katie Tenboer (senior, Morrison, Ill.) led the offense with three hits, scoring once. Right fielder Emily Te Brink (sophomore, Le Mars) had two hits and drove in two runs while shortstop Annie Sarcone (freshman, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS) had two hits, bringing in a run and scoring once. Lythberg also had two hits.

The losses even Central and Luther at the top of league play with 10-2 records. Luther improves to 30-4 overall while the Dutch are 29-5.

Central wraps up conference action on the road, meeting Cornell College at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Mount Vernon before facing the Univ. of Dubuque Saturday.

“Cornell is a much-improved group this year and we didn’t play very well in our earlier matchup against Dubuque,” Wares said. “We just need to take care of business. If we win out, we’re still conference co-champions.”