Panther softball goes 1-3 in Iowa City

By Andy Krutsinger, Mt. Pleasant News

The (4A) No. 8 Mt. Pleasant softball team got the chance to take on some of the best competition in the state of Iowa this weekend at the University of Iowa complex.

The Panthers went 1-3 on the weekend. They fell 4-1 to Iowa City West and 9-2 against (5A) No. 2 West Des Moines Valley on Friday. The Panthers dropped a 4-0 game to (5A) No. 7 Cedar Rapids Kennedy, on Saturday but took down (5A) No. 12 Muscatine, 6-3, getting revenge for a loss earlier this season.

The Panthers gave second-ranked Valley a run for its money through five innings on Friday. The Tigers scored four in the first inning, but Mt. Pleasant cut the lead to 4-2 in the fourth and trailed by just two runs going into the final two innings.

Seventh-ranked Kennedy scored two runs in the second inning, one in the third and one in the sixth to beat the Panthers on Saturday.

The Panthers scored the first four runs in the win over 12th-ranked Muscatine. They scored one in the first, one in the third and two in the fourth. The Muskies cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the fifth but Mt. Pleasant scored one in each of the next two innings and held Muscatine to just one more run in the game to pick up the victory.

Sarah Moffett was 3-4 with a home run in the win over Muscatine. Anni Liechty went 2-4 with two RBIs.Makayla Cam finished 2-3. Jackie Fraise knocked two runs in and Bailey Johnson knocked in one.

Cali Liechty picked up the win against Muscatine, moving her to 16-4 this season.

The Panthers will have a huge doubleheader tonight (Monday) at Fairfield. The Southeast Conference title hangs in the balance in both softball and baseball. Both Mt. Pleasant teams come in one game behind Fairfield and will need a sweep to win the SEC. Those games begin at 5:30 p.m.