Warriors go 3-1 heading into postseason play
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The Central softball team wrapped up its regular season with a 3-1 week, finishing 9-14 overall and 9-7 in the Upper Iowa Conference, which was good enough for 4th place.
After the Warriors started the season 2-11, new coach Mark Wiley righted the ship and they rallied down the home stretch, finishing the season on a 9-3 run.
The Warriors started their final week on the losing side against the Waukon Indians, dropping the game 6-0. Outside of Abby Cummer, who was responsible for all three team hits, the Central offense struggled at the plate, hitting routine pop ups and ground balls, which made the game easy defensively for the Indians.
From the mound, Chelsia Larson gave up eight hits and seven walks. The Indians also stole all nine bases they attempted.
“Defensively, we played well in this game by committing one error, which happened in the first inning. We issued seven walks and one of those was an intentional walk with an additional hit by pitch. Four of their six runs were the free passes we gave. This isn’t a rarity, when you walk batters, especially leading off an inning; it usually turns into a run,” commented Wiley.
However, the Warriors rebounded in the following doubleheader against West Central, winning both games 7-0 via forfeit.
In the final game of the week, Central defeated Dunkerton 16-2, in a flashy performance before heading into the postseason.
The game started ominously, with a defensive error in the first inning along with a walk and a hit by pitch that led to a Dunkerton run. Larson settled in from there, though, holding the Raiders to just one more run and picking up her seventh win of the season.
Offensively, the Warriors were the recipients of 11 walks and four hit by pitches, as Dunkerton struggled to throw strikes. The Warriors also maintained their discipline at the plate, with just two strikeouts.
Cummer continued her hitting ways by going 3-3 at the plate and reaching base all five times. Kaitlyn Wiley was 3-4 and had four RBIs. Brandy Beatty was 2-4 with three RBIs, and Delaney Scherf was 2-3 and scored three runs. Maddy Wille, Larson, Madison Sylvester, Gracie Cummer and Fern Diersen all had one hit in the game as well.
“Every spot in the lineup had at least one hit, totaling 15 hits in the game, which is a good thing to see as we head into the post season,” Wiley said.
The postseason begins for the Warriors on Tuesday, July 6, at Edgewood-Colesburg (11-27), in the Class 1A - Region 5 first round game. First pitch is at 7 p.m.
