MUSCODA - It was a 50/50 week for the Chieftain softball team, falling to Iowa Grant, 6-8, then flipping it around for a win over Pecatonica, 9-5.
At Pecatonica
The Chieftains traveled to Pecatonica last Tuesday to take on the Vikings.
It was another dreary day at the ballpark, with a light rain coming down during warmups, but luckily for us the rain managed to stop once the game began.
The Chieftains were able to get a baserunner on early in the game with a double by Mackenzie Herried. A single by Macey Klebesadel brought her around to score the first run of the game. The Chieftains then took the field with Amanda Meister on the mound. Meister allowed the first Viking batter to walk, who then moved around to score and tie the game on a double.
In the second inning, a leadoff walk by Emily Drone was followed by a single by Tiara Thomas. Macy Curtis hit a groundout, and Drone was out at second for second out of the inning. Shay Louis stepped up and hit a hard shot to the outfield, scoring Thomas for our second run of the game. Next up was Macy Koch, who added another single, advancing Louis to third. Louis scored on a passed ball. Riverdale allowed Pecatonica just one hit and Meister striking out one.
Amanda Meister led off the top of the third inning with a hard hit double to the left center fence. Amanda stole third and home on a passed ball. That was the only offense Riverdale was able to muster in the inning as the next three Chieftain batters were retired. A Riverdale fielding error allowed the first Viking batter to reach base. The next two batters were retired by infield pop ups. With two outs, the Vikings hit a long fly ball to left field, scoring their lone baserunner for the inning.
In the fourth inning Pecatonica was able to create some momentum with a leadoff walk, followed by two doubles to tie the score at 4-4.
The top of the fifth inning began with a leadoff single by Mackenzie Herreid who then stole second base, advanced to third on an error, then stole home!
A pair of fielding error allowed the Pecatonica to score in the bottom, tying the game, 5-5.
Tiara Thomas ledoff in the sixth, reaching base on a fielding error before stealing second base, getting in scoring position for Macy Curtis, who came up big with a single to score Thomas. Shay Louis hit her second double of the game to score Curtis and tack on another run. A walk by Herreid put another runner aboard for the Chieftains. Herreid advanced to third on a single by Meister. Heads-up baserunning by Herreid allowed her to steal home for the second time in the game. In the bottom of the sixth, the Chieftains held the Vikings back from scoring.
In the seventh inning Riverdale plated one more run on doubles by Emily Drone and Tiara Thomas. Riverdale was able to hold off Pecatonica to win the game 9-5.
Meister got the win for the Chieftains, giving up eight hits, striking out five and walking just two. Leading hitters for the Chieftains were Shay Louis, 2x3 with two RBIs, Mackenzie Herreid 2x3, Tiara Thomas 2x4 and Macy Curtis 2x4.
At Iowa-Grant
Last Thursday the Chieftains traveled to Cobb to take on the Iowa-Grant Panthers for their first SWAL conference game of the season. Fielding and baserunning errors plagued the Chieftains, who were defeated 8-6.
In their first at-bat, Macy Klebesadel was the only Chieftain to reach base on a walk. Riverdale was able to prevent the Panthers from scoring, despite giving up a walk and a double.
The Chieftains couldn’t find their offensive rhythm in the second inning with one groundout and two strikeouts. Iowa-Grant got their offense going in the bottom of the second inning with a leadoff triple to right field. The Panthers came up with a big home run to left center, making the score 2-0 after two innings.
Riverdale finally got some offense going in the top of the third inning with a leadoff single by Mara Wiedenfeld. She advanced to third on a double by Macy Koch. Amanda Meister helped her by doubling to centerfield, scoring Wiedenfeld. In the bottom of the third a fielding error by the Chieftains allowed the first Panthers batter aboard. Iowa-Grant came up big again with another home run.
In the fourth inning Riverdale wasn’t able to get any offense going though they were ableto hold Iowa-Grant to no runs. In the top of the fifth, Riverdale got two runners aboard on singles by Macy Koch and Macy Curtis, but two key strikeouts by the Chieftains shut down the inning. In the bottom of the fifth another defensive error allowed the leadoff Iowa-Grant batter aboard followed by two singles followed, scoring a run. Another Iowa-Grant single allowed another runner to score.
In the top of the sixth, Mackenzie Herreid got the offense started by reaching on an error by the Iowa-Grant third baseman. Shay Louis singled to centerfield, putting two Chieftains on base. Tiara Thomas was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Emily Drone came up with a big single to score Herreid. Riverdale commited two big baserunning errors for the final outs of the inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Riverdale retired the first Panther batter and walked the second. The Panthers came up clutch with a double to center field to score a run. An infield error allowed another run for Iowa-Grant.
In their last at-bat, Riverdale finally got some offense going. Macy Curtis came up with a single to left field for our first baserunner. Macy Koch was then hit by a pitch to put another runner on. Our third Macey (Klebesadel) singled to center field to score Curtis. Amanda Meister doubled for the second time in the game, scoring Koch. A deep fly ball by Herreid allowed Klebesadel to tag up to score the third run of the inning. Meister advanced to third base on the pop fly and stole home to add another run. The final score was 8-6, Iowa-Grant.
Meister took the loss on the mound, despite striking out seven and walking just three batters. Leading hitters for the Chieftains were Amanda Meister 2x4 with two RBIs, Macy Curtis, 2x3 and Shay Louis 2x4.
