Tigers take key POI win

MARTENSDALE — Teams at the top of the Pride of Iowa Conference softball race had a banner weekend, starting with two key matchups Friday night in Warren County.

While undefeated and Class 1A fourth-ranked Southeast Warren was solidifying its hold on the top spot at 7-0 with a 10-0 home victory over Mount Ayr, Lenox and Martensdale-St. Marys were locked in a tight battle to break their tie for fourth place in the conference.

Wayne moved into second place alone in the league at 5-1 with a 10-0 victory over Nodaway Valley, with Mount Ayr slipping to 5-2. Lenox climbed into third place with Friday’s hard-fought 2-1 win over Martensdale-St. Marys, as the Blue Devils fell to 5-3 in fifth place.

One day later, Lenox and Martensdale-St. Marys won tournament titles and Mount Ayr took second place at Griswold.

The game of the weekend, however, was in Martensdale, and a young and improving Lenox team led by senior all-state pitcher TJ Stoaks took another step forward with the 2-1 win over Class 1A No. 8-ranked Martensdale-St. Marys.

Lenox, ranked 13th in Class 1A, got all of the offense it would need in the first inning before Blue Devil freshman pitcher Campbell German settled in and pitched shutout ball the rest of the night.

Batting leadoff for the Tigers, Stoaks opened the game by stroking a single to right field on the second pitch of the game. McKinna Hogan followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Stoaks to second base.

Then, the two eighth-graders in Lenox’s varsity lineup came through in key spots. Zoey Reed dropped a single into shallow center field and stole second uncontested to put two runners in scoring position.

Sadie Cox singled to left field, scoring both Stoaks and Reed.

“TJ hit an outside pitch where it was pitched and took it to right,” Martensdale-St. Marys coach Brian Sweet said. “Other than that, they hit a couple of bleeders that dinked out there to score the runs. Give credit to them, when on our dink hit they made the play.”

Sweet was referring to the Blue Devils’ scoring threat in the fourth inning. Jackie Kleve’s infield single broke up Stoaks’ no-hitter. Cox, Lenox’s catcher, caught a popped up bunt by Jayda Gay for the second out. On Madeline Meyer’s hit to center field, Kleve tried to advance to third base.

Lenox center fielder Brooklyn Ecklin fielded the ball and fired a strike to Hogan at third, who tagged Kleve for the inning-ending out.

“Brooklyn wasn’t able to get there and make the catch, but she was able to throw out the runner going to third with a perfect throw. It was a big time play,” said TJ Stoaks on the defensive play of the game. “Our defense has gotten stronger and that’s a lot of help for me.”

Martensdale-St. Marys left the tying run stranded at third base in a bizarre ending to the sixth inning after closing the gap to 2-1 on Gay’s RBI infield single. With two outs and a 2-2 count on Madeline Myer, the next pitch by Stoaks struck Myer in the shoulder.

However, the home plate umpire ruled the ball was in the strike zone as it struck Myer, ruling she had initiated contact. By rule that was a strike, making it an inning-ending out and an unconventional way for Stoaks to record her 200th strikeout of the season.

“It was a changeup inside and it kind of seemed like she leaned into the pitch,” TJ Stoaks said. “That was a big way to end the inning.”

Stoaks finished with a flourish, getting the first two outs on strikeouts before the game ended on a fly ball catch in right field by Dayna Robinson off the bat of Hadley Pearson.

Stoaks finished her three-hitter with 10 strikeouts and no walks.

“Some of the girls went boating yesterday and they think they got good boating vibes,” Lenox coach Mandy Stoaks said, smiling. “Whatever it takes, I guess. Everybody seems to be playing with more confidence.”

Tournament title

That level of performance carried over to Saturday, as the Tigers rolled to the Orient-Macksburg Tournament title with an 8-1 semifinal victory over East Union before topping Nodaway Valley, 8-0, in the championship game. Stoaks had 15 strikeouts in each game, allowing only four hits for the day. She now has 232 strikeouts for the season as the Tigers enter the new week at 19-3 overall.

Also on Saturday, Martensdale-St. Marys went 3-0 in its own tournament to improve to 14-5. Mount Ayr made it to the finals of the Griswold Tournament before falling to the host Tigers, 4-2. In the semifinals the Raiderettes beat Class 1A No. 11-ranked Exira-EHK, 10-0.

Lenox plays at Nodaway Valley Tuesday, while Mount Ayr travels to Southwest Valley on Thursday.