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COUNCIL BLUFFS — Back on the same field where their season ended a year ago, the Indian Hills softball team made an early statement in the race for this year's regional championship.
Mary-Paige Withers delivered her biggest hit yet of her freshman season at Indian Hills, driving a pitch over the fence in left field in the top of the eighth inning to snap a 3-3 tie in the second game of a doubleheader at Iowa Western. The Warriors earned two wins in two games to open Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play, holding on for a 5-4 win in game one before edging the Reivers 4-3 in the extra-inning nightcap.
Indian Hills has now won five of its last six contests. Timely hitting coupled with a trio of strong outings in the pitching circle carried the Warriors to the sweep in Council Bluffs, where IHCC's season came to an end last may with two losses in the best-of-three ICCAC championship series.
The Warriors (12-12, 2-0 ICCAC) opened the afternoon trading runs in the first inning of game one with the Reivers as freshman Cassandra Benberg delivered a RBI single in the top half of the first. The conference opener remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the sixth when Withers sparked a three-run inning with a two-run single to put the Warriors ahead 3-1.
Courtney Locke added a sacrifice fly later in the sixth. Chandler Houselog tacked on an insurance run in the seventh with a run-scoring single, a run that would prove to be decisive as Iowa Western scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh before Houselog turned a double play from third base to put the opening game away for the Warriors.
Sophomore Ashlynn Sheets went the distance in the circle. The southpaw and former Ottumwa Bulldog ace allowed just one run on four hits over the first six innings before forcing the Reivers into the game-ending double play with both the tying and winning runs on base in the seventh.
Benberg finished the opener with a season-high three hits while sophomore Ava Smith tallied a pair of knocks. Sheets picked up her sixth win of the year, tied for the most in the ICCAC this year, striking out five Reivers along the way.
Game two saw the Reivers strike first with a pair of runs in each of the first two frames. Trailing 2-0 in the third, Smith delivered a two-run home run, her third of the year, to even the contest.
Iowa Western regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the third before sophomore Peyton Raley took advantage of a wild pitch to once again even the game.
Sophomore Jordyn Beck relieved starter Alivia Ruble in the fifth inning and kept the Reiver offense at bay. The two sides went scoreless over the final two innings to force an extra frame, the Warriors' first extra inning affair of the year.
With one out in the top of the eighth, Withers sent an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to break the deadlock and put Indian Hills on top 4-3. Beck retired the first two Reivers in the bottom of the eighth before stranding a runner to close out the game two victory.
Raley led the offense with three hits in the win while Smith delivered two more base hits for the Warriors. Smith as now hit safely in eight consecutive games, boasting a .600 batting average during the stretch. Smith's team-leading .471 average currently ranks third in the ICCAC this year.
Ruble and Beck carried the Warriors in the circle. Ruble allowed just one earned run in four innings of work while Beck tossed four shutout innings of relief work to earn her first victory of the season.
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Mary-Paige Withers delivered her biggest hit yet of her freshman season at Indian Hills, driving a pitch over the fence in left field in the top of the eighth inning to snap a 3-3 tie in the second game of a doubleheader at Iowa Western. The Warriors earned two wins in two games to open Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC) play, holding on for a 5-4 win in game one before edging the Reivers 4-3 in the extra-inning nightcap.
Indian Hills has now won five of its last six contests. Timely hitting coupled with a trio of strong outings in the pitching circle carried the Warriors to the sweep in Council Bluffs, where IHCC's season came to an end last may with two losses in the best-of-three ICCAC championship series.
The Warriors (12-12, 2-0 ICCAC) opened the afternoon trading runs in the first inning of game one with the Reivers as freshman Cassandra Benberg delivered a RBI single in the top half of the first. The conference opener remained deadlocked at 1-1 until the sixth when Withers sparked a three-run inning with a two-run single to put the Warriors ahead 3-1.
Courtney Locke added a sacrifice fly later in the sixth. Chandler Houselog tacked on an insurance run in the seventh with a run-scoring single, a run that would prove to be decisive as Iowa Western scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh before Houselog turned a double play from third base to put the opening game away for the Warriors.
Sophomore Ashlynn Sheets went the distance in the circle. The southpaw and former Ottumwa Bulldog ace allowed just one run on four hits over the first six innings before forcing the Reivers into the game-ending double play with both the tying and winning runs on base in the seventh.
Benberg finished the opener with a season-high three hits while sophomore Ava Smith tallied a pair of knocks. Sheets picked up her sixth win of the year, tied for the most in the ICCAC this year, striking out five Reivers along the way.
Game two saw the Reivers strike first with a pair of runs in each of the first two frames. Trailing 2-0 in the third, Smith delivered a two-run home run, her third of the year, to even the contest.
Iowa Western regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the third before sophomore Peyton Raley took advantage of a wild pitch to once again even the game.
Sophomore Jordyn Beck relieved starter Alivia Ruble in the fifth inning and kept the Reiver offense at bay. The two sides went scoreless over the final two innings to force an extra frame, the Warriors' first extra inning affair of the year.
With one out in the top of the eighth, Withers sent an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to break the deadlock and put Indian Hills on top 4-3. Beck retired the first two Reivers in the bottom of the eighth before stranding a runner to close out the game two victory.
Raley led the offense with three hits in the win while Smith delivered two more base hits for the Warriors. Smith as now hit safely in eight consecutive games, boasting a .600 batting average during the stretch. Smith's team-leading .471 average currently ranks third in the ICCAC this year.
Ruble and Beck carried the Warriors in the circle. Ruble allowed just one earned run in four innings of work while Beck tossed four shutout innings of relief work to earn her first victory of the season.
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