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No. 2 Louisa-Muscatine fires past Van Buren County
Warriors see lead diminish against Falcons in 2A Region 2 bout
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
Van Buren County softball saw its season come to an end on Wednesday night with a hard-fought 10-6 loss to Louisa-Muscatine in the Class 2A Region 2 second round.
Despite the loss, the Warriors (9-13) gave the No. 2 rated Falcons (27-6) nearly all they could muster.
Through two innings, the Warriors and Falcons both went scoreless as each squad put on a defensive clinic.
It wasnt’t until the third inning that the offensive’s finally broke through. Louisa-Muscatine put the first points on the board with a single run in the top of the third inning, but that advantage was short-lived.
The Warrior struck back in their trip to the plate thanks to freshman Teagan Sickels. With a pair of runners on, Sickels blasted a three run home run over the left field wall off L-M ace Kamryn Taylor.
The hit sent the VBC faithful into a frenzy as the Warriors took a 3-1 into the fourth inning.
However, the Warriors’ two run lead dissipated as fast as it was built an inning later. The Falcons answered back in a big way, scoring five straight runs in the fourth inning.
The Falcons’ got an two RBI double from Grace Hoopes to knot the game. Then with two outs, Grace Kissell gave the Falcons the lead with an RBI single and Hannah Kissell extended it with a two-run homer. Just like that and Louisa-Muscatine led 6-3.
It was a tough night for the Warriors’ defense as just three of the 10 runs by the Falcons were earned.
“Our strength all year as been our defense and that’s what let up down tonight,” Van Buren County head coach Randy Smith said. “Their high school kids so that’s going to happen you know. I’m so proud of them, their just a great group of kids.”
After going without a run in the fourth, Van Buren County’s Alicia Cumberland hit an RBI to bring it back within two, 6-4, but that’s as close as they would come.
The bats once again got hot for the Falcons in the sixth as four runs found their way home to make it 10-4.
Van Buren County did all it could to get back into it in the final two innings, as Lexie Wiley brought two runs home after ripping a two-out RBI double in the seventh. The comeback attempt ended there.
“I love coaching them,” Smith said. “They battled. Even when they got down by a couple, they came back and scored a run. I’m proud of them.”
Wiley led the Warriors going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Ashlynn Huff went 2-for-3. Teagan Sickels finished with a home run and three RBIs. Callie Kracht and Aida Troutman each had a hit. Alicia Cumberland finished with an RBI.
Addison Brauns threw a great game in the circle, going four innings, allowing four hits, six runs, just one earned. Cumberland pitched two innings, giving up four hits, four runs and two earned.
