June 19, 2025
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SOFTBALL: State-ranked opponents give ladies a gauntlet-like schedule

Wolverines look to snap recent skid

By Ryan Stonebraker
NV/OM's Mattie Thompson tracks down a fly ball in the outfield during a game at Wayne recently.

NV/OM's Mattie Thompson tracks down a fly ball in the outfield during a game at Wayne recently. (Dan Dickinson)

A tough stretch of games for Nodaway Valley/OM softball pitted them against three state-ranked teams in Class 1A. A fourth team the Wolverines played is also no stranger to success.

The Wolverines lost to top-ranked Wayne 8-0, Martensdale-St. Marys 5-1 and fifth-ranked Southeast Warren 15-3. In between those games, they lost 8-0 to Earlham in non-conference play.

The Wolverines’ record is now 3-5 overall and 3-4 in the Pride of Iowa Conference. They’re now tied for fourth in the league with Mount Ayr.

Despite the losses, improvement continues to show for the Wolverines — specifically with strikeouts. Through eight games last year, the Wolveirnes struck out 52 times. This year, through eight games, they’ve struck out just 32 times. NV/OM has the third-fewest strikeouts in the conference.

“We are hitting the ball very well right now,” Nodaway Valley/OM co-head coach Ryan Zenor said. “We would have liked to get a win last week but we aren’t done and we get to play more softball this week.”

Against the Falcons, Nodaway Valley/OM fell behind 2-0 after the first inning and 4-0 after two innings. That score held until the fourth when the Falcons scored four times to get the score to 8-0.

The Wolverines had hits from Izzy Eisbach, Emma Boswell and Carter Osborne in the game, against Wayne’s all-state pitcher, Izzie Moore. Ella Boswell took the loss for NV/OM, facing 22 batters and striking out one. Moore struck out nine Wolverines.

MStM began the season ranked second but has since fallen out of the top-15. The game NV/OM played with the Blue Devils ended in the closest margin the teams have had since 2009.

The Blue Devils looked like they were going to run away with the game, scoring three first-inning runs. Nodaway Valley held and didn’t allow any more runs until the fifth, when two runs scored to make the score 5-1. The Wolverines scored in the bottom of the fourth off an inning where NV/OM sent six to the plate. Emma Boswell got on board with one out and advanced to third on a single by Lea Stonebraker. Boswell scored and Stonebraker went to third on an RBI double by Ella Boswell.

Addi Glade was 2-for-3 against Martensdale-St. Marys and Taylor Laughery also had a hit in the game. Ella Boswell took the loss, striking out four and walking two in seven innings of work.

The final game of the week, against SEW, shaped up to be a shootout early as the Warhawks scored three in the top of the first and the Wolverines answered in the same fashion in their half of the frame. With one out, the Wolverines had four straight singles by Laughery, Izzy Eisbach, Emma Boswell and Stonebraker. Eisbach and Stonebraker each had RBIs and later a sac fly by Chloe Rardin drove in another run.

Southeast Warren scored five in the bottom of the third for an 8-3 lead. NV/OM tried to rally in the bottom of the frame, loading the bases with one out off a Laughery double and singles from Emma Boswell and Stonebraker. The Warhawks were able to extinguish the threat.

In the top of the fourth, the Warhawks seized control, plating seven runs to go up 15-3.

Nodaway Valley had seven hits in the game, led by three players with multi-hit games. Collecting two hits were Laughery, Emma Boswell and Stonebraker. Stonebraker had a stolen base in the game and Ella Boswell reached base via walk. Ella Boswell took the loss with two Ks and three walks.