Raider baseball, softball make school history

For the first time in school history, Williamsburg has both its softball and baseball teams in the state tournament.

Coach Adam Berte’s softball team, ranked No. 1 in Class 3A all season, earned their fourth consecutive trip to state by shutting out Grinnell 3-0 in a Region 5 final Tuesday, July 11, at Jim Turner Field.

On the same night, coach Nathan King’s baseball team capped an improbable run to the Big Dance with an eight-inning, 1-0 victory over 8th-ranked West Marshall in a Substate 7 final at Pella.

Getting the top seed at state, the softball team (33-9) faced No. 8 seed Albia (21-8) in a 3A quarterfinal Monday night, July 17, at Harlan Rogers Park, Fort Dodge.

The baseball team (20-19) received a seven seed and faced No. 2 seed Underwood (23-3) in a 2A quarterfinal Tuesday night, July 18, at Merchants Park, Carroll.

Stellar pitching performances by seniors Peyton Driscoll and Trey O’Neil, who outdueled Tiger freshman Rhianon Rees and Trojans junior Owen Siegert, carried the Raiders to victory.

Driscoll, the ace of the softball team since she was an eighth-grader, tossed another gem, giving up just two hits, walking one and striking out nine. A seasoned right-hander with an assortment of pitches — her change-up a batter’s nightmare, Driscoll didn’t allow a Grinnell runner past second base, retired eight straight batters from the second through fourth innings and set down eight in a row to end the game, improving her season record to 17-3 with an 0.93 ERA.

Rhianon was pretty good herself limiting an explosive Williamsburg offense that totaled 22 hits and 22 runs in its first two tourney wins, to five hits and three runs, one of those unearned. She walked two and struck out three.

“Peyton threw another great game as we’ve come to expect,” said coach Berte. “She has always been a big game pitcher and she showed it again.”

Driscoll got the only run she needed in the first inning when junior Shannon Finn broke out of a slump with a leadoff triple, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Carly Rich.

It was a 1-0 game until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Raiders scored twice more to give them some breathing room. With one out, sophomore Makenna Hughes singled. She stole second and third and came home on a suicide squeeze bunt by senior Riley Metz, who managed to get the ball on the ground despite the pitch being thrown above her head. Finn followed with an RBI single.

“We would have loved to swing it a little better,” Berte said, “but we had pockets of success and were able to execute some bunts that were huge to get the lead early and extend later in the game.”

O’Neil worked an 8-inning masterpiece, allowing just one hit and striking out 12. The lanky right-hander mixed in an 80-plus mile an hour fastball with a sharp breaking curve to retire 11 straight batters during one stretch, holding West Marshall hitless over the last six innings.

It was an outing similar to the one O’Neil enjoyed back on May 15 when he one-hit the Trojans and struck out 15 in a 4-1 Williamsburg win.

“When Trey is dialed in like that we can beat anybody,” said coach King. “He came off (the mound) after the (bottom of the) 6th and said to me, ‘just get me 1’, and we were able to do that in the 8th and he closed the door.”

As good as O’Neil was, so was Siegert. The hard throwing southpaw held the Raiders scoreless over 6-1/3 innings on three hits. He walked two and struck out 14 before having to leave the game due to the pitch limitation rule.

Fortunately, O’Neil was able to get through the game under the 110 pitch count but he too almost had to be lifted, getting out the final batter he could have faced.

Williamsburg had a couple early chances to score against Siegert, loading the bases with one out in the first inning before back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat.

Senior Sam Rich doubled to lead off the second inning for the Raiders, but was left stranded, and Williamsburg came away empty-handed in the fifth inning after getting two runners on with one out.

With Siegert off the mound, Williamsburg finally broke through in the top of the eighth inning. After a ground out by Rich, who was 2-for-3 in the game, sophomore Nile Sinn was hit by a pitch. Senior Madox Doehrmann then worked a 3-2 count and with Sinn going on the pitch, lined a single to the gap in left center field. Sinn rounded second base and took off for third, barely beating a throw from Siegert, who was now positioned in the outfield.

That brought sophomore Rayce Heitman to the plate. Heitman had struck out in each of his three previous at bats, but he made most of this trip to the plate, putting down a perfectly placed squeeze bunt to score Sinn.

Coach King said it was ironic a bunt won the game for them considering the poor bunting display they put on in their first-round win over East Marshall, going 1-gort-12.

Ahead 1-0 and needing only three more outs to go to state, O’Neil closed the door on the Trojans, but not without a little drama.

He retired the first hitter of the inning on a fly out to himself, and got the next batter to swing at a low pitch in the dirt for strike three, making freshman catcher Henry Simmons dig the ball out and throw it to first for out number two.

O’Neil then walked Siegert, who stole second and third. With the tying run 90 feet away and O’Neil down to his final batter on the pitch limitation, on a 3-2 count, he finished off West Marshall with his 12th strikeout.

Williamsburg players promptly flung their gloves into the air and celebrated by piling on top of each other, just behind the mound where O’Neil had put on a show.

“I’m proud of this group for resetting after the way we ended the regular season,” coach King said. “We lost 13 of our last 16 games, but caught our breath with a full week of practice and have looked fresh, physically and mentally, ever since.”

Who knows how things will pan out for the Raiders at the state baseball tournament, but the softball team is expected to win it all after placing third, third and second the past three years.

Coach Berte embraces the notion of a state championship.

“I think we are the best team,” Berte boldly said. “We just need to do our job. Not have any individual try too hard to do it all themselves, try to stack good at bats together and play smart and we'll be able to score enough. I know our pitching and defense will be great and will keep the score down, and I think the bracket sets up great for us. Now it is up to us to take advantage and do what we set out to do.”