Golden Hawks, Demons game decided in 7th

KALONA - It may have seemed a fait accompli that the 21-13 Class 4A Washington softball team was going to defeat a 9-19 Class 3A Mid-Prairie team Friday, especially after the Golden Hawks fell behind 2-0 and 3-1.

Mid-Prairie had no such thoughts. The Hawks had lost 5-4 to the Demon earlier this season, scoring two runs in the seventh inning of that game.

The Golden Hawks tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth inning, thanks to a Rylee Vercande leadoff triple.

Washington's Kellie Dallmeyer scored the fifth and deciding run on a Haylee Wilson single, before a suicide squeeze led to two more runs and a 7-4 Washington victory.

'I thought we did a good job of hanging in there until we were able to tie the game up,” Mid-Prairie first-year head coach Mallory Mcartor said. 'Washington did a great job of getting their runs when they needed them.”

Dallmeyer went 4 for 4 in the game to up her batting average to .459 and her on base percentage to .538, both are in the top 25 in Class 4A. Dallmeyer started the three-run seventh inning with a single.

'The pitch was middle and low in the zone and I just sent it back up the middle,” Dallmeyer said. 'I wasn't worried when it was tied up because we have played a lot of clutch games this year.”

Vercande and Cassidy Rourke had hit home runs in the earlier game with the Demons, so Washington coach Ben Obermann was wary of just a 5-4 lead over the Hawks and knew he needed all the runs possible. After Mid-Prairie had called time to have a talk on the mound after Wilson's hit, he called the squeeze.

'The girls executed when I called it so the credit goes to them,” Obermann said. 'When they called time, we kind of decided that they were going to have to throw a strike. Kaitlyn Mitchell handles the bat well. We had the right combination with her at bat and Kinzie Duwa on third and Haylee on second. Kinzie has good speed. It just seemed like the right time. I have to give Kaitlyn and Kenzie a lot of credit on the way they executed. It is a fun play when it happens, but when it doesn't work, you look like a fool.”

Mitchell ended up on second and both Duwa and Wilson scored on the play. Wilson went 3 for 3 with a double. Mitchell was 2 for 3.

'When you put pressure on the defense, good things happen,” Obermann said. 'That gave us some breathing room for the bottom of the seventh.”

'I was just thinking, ‘please get it down,'” Dallmeyer said. 'Coach knows what he's doing, so I trusted him.”

'Every girl has a job to do and they all know what those jobs are,” McArtor said. 'We hung in there defensively until the end.”

Rourke took the loss, surrendering eight hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Only four runs were earned.

'One of our team goals this year have been to fight to the very end of every game and they have done that very well for me,” McArtor said.

Vercande also had a single and Jacelyn Robertson contributed two hits. Abbi Patterson connected on a double.

'Vercande is a good player and a good hitter,” Obermann said. 'We were lucky that that's all they got after that. Rourke is a good pitcher and a good power threat at the plate and we held her at bay.”

Molly Sparks started for the Demons and went four innings with no earned runs on five hits, one walk and two K's. Cara Linnekamp replaced her to start the fifth inning and only yielded one more hit after the triple from Vercande, who scored on a wild pitch.

'Those two pitchers were very similar to us and we knew they were going to be pitching middle to the outside, so Rylee just went with it and did a good job getting that hit,” Mcartor said. 'I wanted the girls to stay disciplined at their at bats and when that ball was on the outside corner, just to go with it. Rylee did a good job of waiting a little longer and taking it down the right-field line. Their outfield had shaded over the other way a little bit because we had been ahead on a lot of pitches. The girls have been doing A good job this year in their approaches at the plate.”

'We want to throw the first pitch as a strike and we weren't getting that, but Cara battled through that,” Obermann said. 'We did just enough defensively.”

Both teams start the postseason this week.

Mid-Prairie plays at Solon Wednesday in a 3A Region 5 quarterfinal.

'I have loved coaching these girls this year and I'm very proud of every single one of them,” Mcartor said. 'They come out and play hard every day. We have already doubled our win total from last year. I am super proud of that. We are only going to go up from here.”

Washington hosts Central Lee today then hosts Iowa City Liberty Thursday in a 4A Region 5 quarterfinal.

'With the post season coming up, these are the kind of games we are going to be playing,” Dallmeyer said. 'Having to face pressure like that is good for us because there will be a lot of pressure in the next four games we play. It's good to experience them now. Four wins will get us to state.”