SEISC heavyweight tilt goes to Pekin

PACKWOOD ? For the first three and a half innings of Monday night?s weighty Southeast Iowa Super Conference North Division softball game, Highland clung to a 1-0 lead. But behind Dominique Tolle?s key single, senior Mycaela Crouse?s long solo home run, several Husky errors and a sparkling pitching performance by starter Mackenzie Laux, 10th-ranked Pekin scored five unanswered runs to rally for a 5-1 win.

Pekin entered Monday night?s matchup undefeated in league play, and Highland had just one conference defeat, a 2-1 loss to the Panthers on June 7. The Panthers? win on Monday night put them comfortably in the driver?s seat to win the North Division title.

?A lot of us were nervous coming into tonight, but I think we pulled it together pretty well,? Crouse said. ?We came through.?

The Panthers had reason to be nervous early in the game. Highland junior Kayla Schneider led off the game with a single into left field. Laux got the next two Husky batters to harmlessly pop out, but Highland junior Anna Sweeting crushed a double to the fence, bringing home Schneider to make it 1-0.

?That?s what we needed to do at the beginning ? get that one run and get going,? Highland head coach Carrie Wieland said.

But that would all the Huskies would get offensively. Laux only allowed one baserunner the rest of the way, when Highland senior Mollie Kleopfer slapped an infield single in the sixth.

?I just bore down and hit my spots,? said Laux, who struck out 10 batters in the game. ?I mixed up my pitches. I threw more curves, and I threw some drops. I?m guessing they weren?t having their best hitting night, because last time we played them they hit pretty well.?

But even after Laux got on track, her team still trailed. Finally, in the fourth inning, the Panthers gave her some run support. Crouse led off the fourth with a single, and then beat out the throw to second when junior Kaitlin Spilman grounded back to the pitcher. Then, after two failed bunt attempts, Tolle lined a pitch into right field to bring home the tying run.

After that, three straight Highland errors gave the Panthers another run and a 2-1 lead.

In the fifth inning, with two outs and nobody on, Crouse hit a long home run over the left field fence to push the Panthers? lead to two runs.

?That was kind of a relief,? Crouse said. ?It was so close, we were only up by one, so once we got that extra score on the board, it was nice. We could kind of breathe easier after that.?

After Crouse?s home run, Pekin head coach Bryan Marlay was certain his team would be victorious.

?Carrie?s ball club is a spectacular club,? he said. ?We always have really good games. We have for a number of years. They?re always close. When we got that two-run cushion, that felt really good. That was a big hit. That was the backbreaker right there, I think.?

The Panthers tacked on two more runs in the sixth. Senior Ashley Morales had an RBI single to right field, and she later came home on a passed ball.

Pekin improves to 21-4 overall and 14-0 in league play. The Panthers lead the Huskies by two games in the conference standings.

?We?re 14-0 and have a two-game cushion,? Marlay said. ?That?s awful nice to have.?

For the Huskies (14-8, 11-2, SEISC North), who needed to win to stay in the conference race, it was a tough loss.

?This is incredibly disappointing,? Wieland said. ?I believe we beat ourselves. I know it sounds stupid, but they didn?t beat us. We beat ourselves. We had too many errors. One thing we pride ourselves on is defense, and our defense was not up to par tonight. I?m very disappointed in that. We gave this one to them.?