By Gregory Norfleet, West Branch Times
WEST BRANCH — Senior Mackenzie Heise pounded a three-run homer in the final inning, but West Branch’s softball team fell short of a comeback by falling 6-4 to the visiting Wilton Beavers on July 8.
The home team dropped to 5-8 a week before entering the postseason.
The Beavers put up their runs in innings three, four and five after trailing 1-0.
“We started off a little sluggish,” Wilton Head Coach Kourtney Denkman said. “I was a little worried after the first inning. Our bats were kind of dull. But we came back, we hit the ball pretty well.”
Denkman said she wanted to see how her team handled the field that night.
“We’ve kind of been struggling a little bit with our defense but we had pretty solid defense tonight
-- no errors -- so that’s a positive and when we can do that we’re going to win,” she said.
The Bears came alive in the final half inning after junior Chloe Pence drove a single into center field and junior Nicki Henson outran a third-base throw to first. Heise stepped up to the plate with two outs and clobbered the ball over center field for the three-run pickup.
Then senior Kaiya Luneckas drove a single to right field to get West Branch back on base right away.
But Wilton freshman relief pitcher Grace Madlock, who stepped in for the final two innings, drew her second strikeout to record the save. Denkman said she did not regret putting Madlock
on the mound.
“(Heise) hit a home run on us last year. She’s a great hitter,” the Wilton coach said. “But we wanted to get some of our younger pitchers a little bit of a chance. So to get Grace a few innings was great. We ended up on top, so it is what it is.”
Eastern Iowa saw several days in a row with temperatures over 90, and both coaches said that though they could do without the heat, they liked their teams getting that important experience. Denkman said the Beavers played three days in a row in the hot weather and would get one day off before heading to Mount Pleasant for a double header before the postseason.
“These girls come, they’re ready to play (and they) understand and they’ve played enough travel ball -- we live in Iowa, so it’s going to be hot,” she said.
Denkman called herself “very pleased” at where Wilton stands a week out from the postseason.
“We’ve struggled a few days this week -- errors and things like that,” she said. “So to come here and to play solid against a very good pitcher (Luneckas) and a very good West Branch team was definitely good for us.”
Her team will focus on the fundamentals before the July 15 playoffs begin, from “getting hits and executing and playing tough defense,” she said.
Wilton ends regular season with three-game win streak
MT. PLEASANT — The Wilton Beavers ended a five-game week with three straight wins. The Beavers traveled to Mount Pleasant on July 10 for a doubleheader and came away with a sweep. Wilton ends the regular season with a record of 12-3. The Beavers beat the Panthers 7-3 in game one, and 8-0 in game two.
In game one, WIlton broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the seventh with a four-run inning. Those runs gave Wilton a 7-3 lead which would be the final score. Peyton Souhrada, Hayley Madlock, and Emily Coss each had two hits. Charlotte Brown and Ganzer each hit home runs. Brown and Maddy Wade each had two RBI’s.
In game two, Wilton earned their first shutout of the season with an 8-0 win. The Beavers offense came alive late to score all eight runs spread out from the top of the fifth to the top of teh seventh. Wilton broke a scoreless game open with two runs in each of the fifth and sixth innings for a 4-0 lead. The Beavers scored four runs in the top of the seventh to push their lead to 8-0.
Grace Madlock pitched a complete game, two-hitter while striking out eight batters and issuing no walks.
Wilton had 14 hits in the game. Chloe Wells was 4-for-5 in the game with four singles and a run scored. Emily Coss had three hits and drove in four runs while Maddy Wade and Peyton Souhrada
each had two hits. Souhrada and Ganzer each had two RBI’s. Ganzer hit a home run in the game.
Wilton Splits Early Week Games
WILTON — The Wilton softball team began their five-game week with a pair of games against RVC North foes. The Beavers won at home on Monday,
July 6, 13-2 over Cascade before losing 9-7 to state ranked Anamosa at home on July 7.
The Beavers started their week with a 13-2 win over Cascade at home in five innings. Wilton scored runs in all but one inning of the game and led 2-1 after the first inning. The Cougars tied the game at 2-2 with a run in the top of the third. Wilton would score the final 11 runs in the game starting with a five-run third to take a 7-2 lead. Wilton led 9-2 after the fourth and ended the game by the 10-run mercy rule, with a 4-run fifth.
Wilton had ten hits in the game led by Peyton Souhrada who was 3-for-3 with two doubles, a single and five RBI’s. Mallory Lange and Emi Coss each had two hits. Chole Wells and Emi Coss each had home runs in the game. Mila Johnson was the winning pitcher after five innings of work. She struck out two and walked four while giving up two runs on four hits.
The Beavers fell 9-7 the next night at home to state ranked Wilton. The Beavers were ranked No. 13 in Class 2A and Anamosa was ranked No. 8 in Class 3A at the time of the meeting. There, Anmosa broke open a scoreless game in the top of the fourth inning with a seven-run inning. Wilton scored twice in the bottom of the inning to set the score at 7-2, but Anamosa got those two runs back in the top of the fifth to set the score at 9-2. Wilton would score five more runs over the course of the next two innings, but could get no closer than the game’s final score.
Wilton had 11 hits in the game led by four players with two hits each. Taylor Garvin had a home run and two RBI’s and Chloe Wells, Mallory Lange, and Payton Ganzer each had two hits. Lange, Peyton Souhrada, and Ganzer each had RBI’s. Mila Johnson took the loos after working four innings
and giving up seven runs on seven hits.
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