Central unleashes small-ball rally to gain softball split
DECORAH—It was only the fifth game of the season but it was textbook Central College softball Friday as the Dutch unleashed their running game for a three-run seventh-inning rally and an eventual split of a crucial American Rivers doubleheader at Luther College.
After stealing a 4-2 victory in the opener, the Dutch (3-3 overall, 1-1 conference) were overwhelmed in the five-inning nightcap, 10-0. Under the modified conference schedule adopted due to the pandemic, the teams will meet again Saturday for a single game at 11 a.m.
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the seventh inning of game one, freshman first baseman Megan Stuhr (Sigourney) singled to right field in one of the only balls of the frame to leave the infeld. Freshman right fielder Franie Burnett (Ankeny, Centennial HS) reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second and scored the tying run on an error. Central also got a run-scoring infield hit from left fielder Emma Johnson (sophomore, Davenport, Assumption HS) and an RBI swinging bunt from third baseman Paige Roehlk (senior, Davenport, West HS).
The Dutch were outhit 8-6 in the game but stole three bases in the seventh inning and nine for the game, two shy of the school record as Burnett swiped three, giving her five in her rookie season.
Pitcher Sydni Huisman (sophomore, Treynor) improved to 2-2, scattering eight hits in yielding one earned run over seven innings, walking two and striking out three. Luther ace Kendra Cooper (9-1) suffered her first loss.
“We just kept hanging in there,” coach George Wares said. “Cooper threw well. It was a great win. We’ve got some people who can hit it deep but we’ve also got some speed in the lineup and that was the difference. It was a really good job of executing the short game by a lot of people.
“It was a classic,” he said. “And the second game wasn’t.”
Luther (15-6 overall, 4-3 conference) quickly ended the drama in the nightcap, with a run in the first inning followed by a four-run explosion in the second and five more tallies in the fourth. The Norse outhit Central 12-5.
Morgan Schaben (sophomore, Portsmouth, Harlan HS) dropped to 1-1 with the loss, getting charged with four earned runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts in three innings.
Burnett was 2-for-2 and had three hits on the day as did center fielder Sara Tallman (senior, Pella).
Wares called the loss deflating but with another key game in just a few hours, it needs to quickly go in the rear-view mirror.
“We just have to come back,” Wares said. “We’re no different of a team after losing the second game than we were after winning the first one.”
