Indians End Regular Season, Advance with Regional Semi Win
Josie Bunnell rounds 3rd base on her way to score a run during the Indians 7-1 win over Washington.
by Wade Steinlage
The Oskaloosa Indian softball team capped a solid regular season with a big league win and then gave itself a chance to make a return trip to state.
Two weekends ago, Class 4A #5 Oskaloosa (27-12, 13-8 LHC) competed at the Iowa City West Tournament. On Friday, OHS fell to Class 5A #12 Muscatine 7-3 and then defeated Davenport North 10-0 in five innings. On Saturday, the Indians faced two more top-10 teams from Class 5A, falling 4-3 to #5 Pleasant Valley in eight innings and 12-0 to #9 Davenport West.
Oskaloosa bounced back last Wednesday in its regular season finale, knocking off Class 5A #8 Indianola 2-0.
The Indians then opened up postseason action this past Saturday with a convincing 7-1 win over Washington in the Class 4A Region 5 semifinals. Unfortunately, statistics were not available at print time. With the win, Oskaloosa will face #7 Burlington in Tuesday’s regional final for a berth to the state tournament. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. in Oskaloosa.
Muscatine 7, Oskaloosa 3
Unfortunately, the game was over early as Muscatine tallied four first-inning runs on three hits and a trio of Indian errors.
Oskaloosa put a run across in the third, fifth, and sixth frames, but could not catch the Muskies. OHS was outhit 11-10 with three hits coming from Taylor Wills and two more from Josie Bunnell and Anna Jones.
The OHS defense struggled to the tune of six errors as only two of the runs Hayle Hacker permitted were earned. Hacker walked two without a strikeout in five frames. Abby Braundmeier entered out of bullpen and tallied one strikeout in two innings.
Oskaloosa 10, Davenport North 0
The Indians rolled over Davenport North, recording 13 hits, while Alexis Groet limited the opposing batters to just one base knock. She struck out 10 of the 15 individuals she faced, and reached a milestone with her 1,000th career strikeout in the second inning.
OHS put one on the board in the first, three more in the second, and then blew things open with a five-run fourth frame. Bunnell and Maddie Haines each managed three hits, while Wills contributed two more. Bunnell, who homered in the win, also scored three times and drove in a pair of runs. Haines rounded the pads twice and Meghan Moorman matched Bunnell with two RBIs.
Pleasant Valley 4, Oskaloosa 3
The maroon and white pushed the defending Class 5A runner-up to the limit, going to extra innings before succumbing.
With the game tied at 2-2 after seven frames, the international tiebreaker was implemented in the eighth, meaning the hitting team starts with a runner on second base. PV managed two runs in the top half, but Oskaloosa could only get one across in the bottom half, stranding the tying run at third base and the winning run at first.
OHS missed another terrific scoring opportunity in the third as it loaded the bases with no outs, but only produced one run. The Indians left eight on base in the setback.
