Indians Strong Over Washington In Opening Round

by Jay Harms

The Oskaloosa Softball team opened up Regional Tournament play Thursday night and came away with an 8-3 win over the Washington Demons as they moved on to the second round of regional play. The Demons scored 1 run on 1 hit and 1 Oskaloosa error in the top of the first but the Indians came right back in the bottom of the inning and scored 3 runs on 5 hits, aided by one Demon error.

The Indians finished off their scoring by getting 2 more runs in the 2nd, 1 run in the 4th and 2 runs in the 5th. Washington scored their only other two runs in the 5th inning. Oskaloosa pounded out 15 hits in the contest, with 5 of them being extra base hits. Leading the Indians at the plate were: Olivia Gordon 3-4, double & 2 singles, 4 rbi’s; Faith DeRonde 4-4; Maleah Walker 3-4, double & 2 singles, 1 rbi; Presley Blommers 2-4, double & triple,1 rbi; Aubrey Boender 1-3; MakKenna Schaffner 1-4, double; and Abby Braundmeier 1-3, 1 rbi. Faith DeRonde was the winning pitcher. She pitched 7 innings, giving up 3 runs – 2 earned, she walked 3 and struckout 5 as she ran her record to 13-6 on the year. With the win, the Indians overall record now stands at 20-14 on the season.

Next up is the regional semifinal matchup with the #6 ranked Norwalk Warriors at Norwalk Saturday night. The Indians defeated the Warriors 7-0 on June 4, then lost a doubleheader to the Warriors on June 21 by the scores of 2-1 and 3-0. First pitch will be at 7:00pm. Saturday.