March 29, 2024

Spartan bats pick up, but not enough

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Wins are within grasp, but seem just out of reach.

The Southwestern Community College softball team hosted a weekend doubleheader with Iowa Lakes Sunday in Iowa Community Collegiate Athletic Conference action and fell twice by scores of 12-3 and 7-6.

Iowa Lakes found its groove early on in game one when Courtney Calkins blasted a grand slam in the first inning.

Afton product Courtney Phelps drove in a run in the second inning with a soft single to right to make the sore 4-1.

The Lakers responded in the top of the third with five more runs, highlighted by home runs by Deanna Gerrard and Kaitlin Walsh.

Another run came home for Southwestern in the fourth when a sharp grounder off Iowa Lakes shortstop Blankey Markman’s glove allowed Abby Davis to score from third.

Davis later went on to blast a changeup over the center field fence the seventh, but the Spartans’ bats couldn’t muster enough to extend the game.

“I see so much potential. Once we put it together we’ll be a hard team to beat,” Southwestern head coach Paige Cassady said.

Katlyn Schiefen and JoHana McGuire shared the pitching duties in game one, while the Lakers’ Ashton Kazmierski got the win in a complete-game effort

Schiefen picked up the loss. She started game two and ran into trouble in the second inning by missing some of her spots.

“I know she’ll come back better next week,” Cassady said.

In game two, the Spartans jumped out on top in the first by a 4-0 margin.

Chelsi Sams blasted a single up the middle that scored two runs and JoHana McGuire lofted a fly ball that was dropped by leftfielder Julia Sullwood that enabled another two to score.

The Lakers responded with two two-run bombs. Shelby Davis and Blaney Markman both went deep in the second to tie the game 4-4.

Southwestern regained the lead when a Schiefen groundball fielder’s choice allowed Beemer to score. Another Spartan crossed home when Alexis Bronner earned her third base on balls of the day.

The Spartans did not muster a run in the final five innings, but the mainly basketball players who came out for the team, Sams, Beemer and Bronner, are learning quickly by Cassady’s measure.

“There’s some mental errors early. There’s some baserunning errors, some fielding errors, but I can’t expect anything differently,” Cassady said. “They’ve come in and done very well for how long they’ve been with us. Fallyn is definitely excelling right, now but I see Chelsi and Lexie only getting better at this point.”

Beemer went 4-for-4 in game two.

A run in each the fourth and fifth by Iowa Lakes tied the game 6-6.

Kaitlin Walsh singled home MaKarlie Smith from second to put the game at its final 7-6 margin. Bronner reached base to start the seventh, but was tagged out at second attempting to tag up and catch the catcher off guard on a foul popup behind home plate.

Phelps struck out to end the game.

McGuire was the losing pitcher despite going six innings of work.

“Jo did a really great job,” Cassady said. “I know that they put up seven runs on her but those weren’t all her runs and she spun it really well, kept it low like she needed to and bounced back from that one home run early.”

Davis went 3-for-5 with three runs and two RBIs in the Sunday series.

Schiefen batted 5-for-6 on Sunday.

Friday, the Spartans sustained a rough 18-0 loss in five innings to Iowa Central before having the second game rained out early on in the contest.

Davis and Schiefen were the lone Spartans to get hits in the loss.

UP NEXT — Southwestern (1-7, 0-3) Northeast CC (13-18) of Norfolk, Nebraska, on Wednesday in a doubleheader that begins at 2 p.m.

R H  E

IL  405  12xx —  12 14  2

SW 011 01xx  —  3 5  5

Game two

R H E

IL 041 100 1 — 7 10 3

SW 420 000 0 — 6 14 4