Oskaloosa Softball Couldn’t Topple Indianola

info by Jay Harms

The Oskaloosa Softball team gave Indianola all they wanted Thursday night but couldn’t quite pull off the big upset losing 3-1 to the Class 5A #4 ranked Indians. Faith DeRonde gave Oskaloosa a quick lead as she hit the first pitch of the game off the scoreboard for her 3rd home run of the season. Indianola would tie the game in the bottom of the first on a walk, a stolen base, and a base hit. Indianola would score single runs in the 4th and 5th to come away with the win and remain in first place by one game in the the Little Hawkeye Conference over the Norwalk Warriors. Oskaloosa continued to put pressure on the #4 ranked team by getting baserunners on every inning, but the Indians could not come up with a key hit when needed. Osklaoosa ended up stranding 8 runners in the game. Faith DeRonde pitched a whale of a game against the potent offense of Indianola giving up 2 earned runs on 6 hits. DeRonde struckout 3 Indianola Indian batters. DeRonde also led the Indians at the plate going 2-4, with a single and a home run. Kaylee Johnson rapped out a double for Oskaloosa’s only other hit. The Indianola Indians record now stands at 26-3 on the season and 15-1 in Little Hawkeye Conference play. The Oskaloosa Indians fall to 13-13 on the season and 8-8 in the conference. Next up for Oskaloosa is the Osky Invite Saturday at Jay Harms Field. East Marshall will square off against Pekin at 9:00, followed by East Marshall taking on Oskaloosa at 10:45. Pekin and Oskaloosa will then finish off the round robin format playing at 12:30.