SIGOURNEY —
Tenth-ranked (1A) Sigourney hosted 11th-ranked North Mahaska (2A) in softball action Wednesday night. The game was also a conference game that helped sort out the top of the South Iowa Cedar League. The visiting Warhawks erupted for seven seventh-inning runs to break open a close game and win, 12-3.
The visitors went up early with a run in the top of the first. Allie Ferguson led-off with a slap single and scored on a two-out double by Carissa McBirnie. North Mahaska added two runs in the third to go up 3-0. Kate Ray got the first of her four hits, a triple, and scored on Tara Smith’s RBI single. McBirnie drove in the third run with her second double.
Sigourney’s defense hurt them in the fourth, as two errors led to two unearned runs for the Warhawks. Ray had an RBI single in the inning.
The five runs looked like plenty, as North Mahaska pitcher Nicole Brand finished her fourth perfect inning in the bottom of the frame.
“Emotionally I felt like we were really ready to play,” said Sigourney coach Shelly Streigle. “I think the pressure of being a young team that was ranked kind of got to us.”
The earlier contest between these two teams was a 2-1 victory for the Warhawks. So it shouldn’t have been surprising that the Savages bunched three of their four hits in the next two innings to close the gap to 5-3 after six. Madi Denny, Bri Shauf, and Tori Albaugh had the hits and Brooke Schroeder drove in one of the three unearned runs.
McBirnie, the North Mahaska clean-up hitter, led off the seventh with a solo home run. It was her third hit and third RBI of the game.
“I consider it a privilege to hit in the fourth spot,” said McBirnie. “I’m glad I’ve been able to drive in runs this summer.”
Ray, hitting second in the lineup, finished her 4-for-4 night with an RBI single.
“It really doesn’t change my approach hitting behind a slap hitter like Allie (Ferguson),” said Ray. “I just try and hit line drives to all parts of the field.”
The final two runs of the inning scored on a two-RBI triple by Smith.
“Tonight was a much more typical offensive showing for our team,” said North Mahaska coach Mike Ryan.
Brand closed out the win by striking out all three Sigourney hitters in the seventh.
“We just got anxious at the plate and swung at some pitches they wanted us to,” added Streigle.
North Mahaska (17-2, 14-1) will travel to Lynville-Sully tonight, with the winner claiming the conference crown. Sigourney (18-5, 13-3) travels to BGM Friday.
North Mahaska 12, Sigourney 3
N.M. 102 200 7 — 12 15 3
Sig. 000 021 0 — 3 4 6
North Mahaska battery — Brand (WP) (7IP, 4H, 3R, 0ER, 5K, 0BB), Smith catching.
2B — McBirnie 2, Brand.
3B — Ray, Smith.
HR — McBirnie.
Hits — Ferguson 2-for-5, Ray 4-for-4, Smith 2-for-5 McBirnie, 3-for-5, Makayla Ihde 1-for-4, Brand 1-for-4, Hayley LaRue 1-for-4, Caprice Dye 1-for-4.
RBI — Ray 2, Smith 3, McBirnie 3, Jaylin DeJong. Runs — Ferguson 3, Ray 2, Smith 2, McBirnie, Ihde, Tressa Watts, Rachel Sherburn 2.
Sigourney battery — Jordan Carter (LP) (7IP, 15H, 12R, 3ER, 3K, 1BB), Shauf catching.
Hits — Albaugh 1-for-3, Denny 1-for-3, Shauf 1-for-3, Schroeder 1-for-3.
RBI — Schroeder. Runs — Becca Ohland, Sierra Davis, Sydney Davis.
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