Fleetwood no-hitter caps Central softball sweep
Central College
PELLA—Central College sophomore Rhianna Fleetwood (Sycamore, Ill.) tossed a no-hitter as the Dutch softball team concluded the regular season with a 10-1, 12-0 sweep of Grinnell College Wednesday in a pair of five-inning games.
Fleetwood (10-0) walked one and fanned four in five shutout innings against the winless Pioneers (0-33).
“It was good for her,” coach George Wares said. “She did a good job of hitting her locations. If you combine today with her last couple of outings, she’s made some very good progress. That should help her confidence.”
The No. 6-rated Dutch (35-5) used a record 26 players in the game.
“Our plan was to get everybody in that we could,” Wares said.
The other game two highlight was a three-run third-inning homer by senior left fielder Beth Grove (Omaha, Neb., Marian HS) in just her third at-bat of the year. Grove, normally a pinch-runner, had four RBIs in the game. First baseman Katie Tenboer (senior, Morrison, Ill.) also homered, belting her sixth of the year.
The Dutch had 11 hits in the game, scoring all 12 runs in the first three innings.
Central struggled a bit in the opener, taking a 1-1 tie into the fourth inning before erupting for seven runs, then ended the game in the fifth on a two-run homer by shortstop Annie Sarcone (freshman, Des Moines, Dowling Catholic HS). Sarcone matched Tenboer for the team home run lead with six. She also had three RBIs for the day to break Tenboer’s school season RBI record with 42. Tenboer has knocked in 40, tying the previous mark.
Sarcone had two hits in the game, as did third baseman Rachael Everingham (junior, Georgetown, Ill., Georgetown-Ridge Farm HS) and catcher Kyrie Hale (junior, Lee’s Summit, Mo., West HS).
Brie Haycraft (freshman, Eldridge, North Scott HS) threw all five innings, scattering six hits with one walk and two strikeouts while yielding one unearned run. She’s 8-1.
Central takes off Thursday for the six-team Iowa Conference tournament at Decorah. The second-seeded Dutch get a first-round bye than open play in the double-elimination tourney at 4 p.m. against the winner of a noon game between third-seeded Coe (33-7) and sixth-seeded Cornell (24-12).
The loser of the 4 p.m. game comes back for an elimination game at noon Friday while the winner plays at 2 p.m. The tourney concludes Saturday.
The tournament determines the league’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III tournament. Central plays host to one of eight NCAA regionals May 12-16.
A live audio webcast of each Central game will be available through www.kniakrls.com, with veteran KRLS sportscaster Trevor Castle providing the play-by-play.
