Cardinal finishes off rival Warriors early

ELDON ? Cardinal was the victim of its own first-inning mistakes in a Wednesday loss to Keokuk, but one day later it was the Comets? turn to have some early-inning fun.

The girls in red and white came out swinging against conference rival Van Buren to tally eight runs in the first inning before cruising to a 12-0, four-inning victory Thursday in Eldon.

?On any given night you never know what?s going to happen,? said Cardinal head coach Jerald Harter. ?Tonight was our turn to jump on top, and once you get that kind of inning it?s time to put things away.?

And put things away, they did.

After coming up empty in the second frame, the Comets took advantage of a lax Van Buren defense and scored twice more in each of the next two innings for the 12-run-rule victory.

?That?s kind of been our Kryptonite all year,? first-year Van Buren head coach Eric Speer said. ?We have one or two bad innings where we just decide we don?t have to play defense and give up six or seven runs in an inning, and it?s tough to come back from that when you?re batting .230 as a team. We have to play smart defense, and if we don?t do that we?re not going to win.?

Van Buren was never able to get a handle on the game, with the Comets? big first inning beginning with a Warrior fielding error.

Lindsay Moore kicked off the scoring with an RBI single, and Carlie Bennett knocked in two more with a triple. Katie Conger, Delaney Ridgeway and Laci Moore all contributed to the first-inning score with RBI base knocks, and Sarah Greiner sacrificed for another RBI.

?That first play of the game when we dropped the fly ball really changed the momentum,? Speer said. ?Cardinal picked up on that momentum and never let up. They didn?t let us breathe the whole game, and when you give a good hitting team extra outs they?re going to make you pay.?

Laci Moore, who pitched four innings of two-hit ball to earn the win, scored on a wild pitch and Allison Ollom hit an RBI single in the third inning. Ridgeway and Morgan Honomichl finished the Warriors off in the fourth with one RBI apiece.

?We had some really nice, timely hitting tonight,? Harter added. ?I think everybody was just aggressive at the plate.?

Cardinal?s Liz Nichols went 2 for 2 from the plate with a pair of doubles. Laci Moore, Conger and Ridgeway finished 2 for 3.

Seniors Makenzie Zeitler and Jessica Saunders collected the two hits, both singles, for Van Buren.

Van Buren starter Alicia Fitzsimmons took the loss, but Speer said it wasn?t her loss to take. Rather, Speer referred to the game as a team loss.

?Unfortunately, as a pitcher you get too much credit when you get a win and take too much of the blame when you lose,? said Speer. ?But ultimately it comes down to a team loss. If a pitcher doesn?t have a defense or bats behind her she?s not going to win.?

Fitzsimmons was hit with the 12 runs, though four of them were unearned. The first-year starting pitcher, a sophomore, fanned four Comets. After the eight Comet runs crossed the plate in the first inning, Fitzsimmons allowed no hits in the second and struck out two in the third.

?She throws a lot of strikes and competes. When you?re down 10-0 bottom of the fourth, you could easily just say you?re done, but she stood out there and she stayed strong, and for a young pitcher that?s a tough thing to do against a good hitting team,? Speer added.

With the win, Cardinal?s record is 11-8 overall and 6-2 in the Southeast Iowa Superconference south division. Van Buren, meanwhile, sits at 6-9 overall, 4-4 in conference, and is in the midst of a six-game losing streak.

Cardinal stays at home for a non-conference matchup with Centerville today, while Van Buren returns to Keosauqua to host New London.

Van Buren @ Cardinal

Van Buren ? 0 0 0 0 ? 0 2 3

Cardinal ? 8 0 2 2 ? 12 12 0

VAN BUREN ? Billups 1-2, 2B; Zeitler 1-2

Pitching ? Fitzsimmons (L) 4 INN, 12R, 8ER, 12H, 3BB, 4K

CARDINAL ? Ridgeway 2-3, 2RBI, R; Nichols 2-2, 2(2B), 2R; La. Moore 2-3, 2B, RBI, 2R; Bennett 1-3, 3B, 2RBI, R; Conger 2-3, RBI, R; Li. Moore 1-2, RBI, R; Ollom 1-3, RBI; Davis 1-1, Greiner RBI, 2R; Honomichl RBI; Moses R; Conger R

Pitching ? La. Moore (W) 4 INN, 0R, 2H, BB, 3K