Linn-Mar Softball

Hempstead sweeps Linn-Mar, finishes 2nd

DUBUQUE - Dubuque Hempstead used early outbursts in each game to sweep a Mississippi Valley Conference softball doubleheader from Linn-Mar on Thursday, but it wasn't enough to catch Jefferson in the Valley Division.

Hempstead beat the Lions 5-2 and 9-5, but finished one-half game behind Jefferson, which beat Waterloo East twice.

Hempstead (35-4, 22-4) scored four runs over the first two innings of the first game. The Mustangs' Hannah Koeperich tossed a three-hitter with eight strikeouts.

Leandra Martins' two-run double in the fourth inning brought home both runs for Linn-Mar (16-24, 9-17).

Hempstead scored five runs in the first inning of the nightcap and added three more runs in the third.

Kelsey Duggan and Ellie Rizor had three hits apiece for Linn-Mar. Rizor hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning.

Maggie Rizor and Martins had two hits apiece for Linn-Mar.

The Lions open regional tournament play Saturday with a first-round game at home against Kennedy. A win would put them in the regional semifinals July 11 at Muscatine.

Lions sweep Wash in softball

Maggie Rizor hit three home runs and drove in seven runs to lead Linn-Mar to a sweep of a Mississippi Valley Conference softball doubleheader Tuesday night at Linn-Mar.

The Lions beat Washington 9-6 in the opener and 8-5 in the nightcap.

In the opener, Alexis Kelsey, Hannah Yearling and Rizor all homered for Linn-Mar.  Kortlan Olinger had three of the Lions' 14 hits.

Jordan Birkicht-Carr hit a grand slam for Washington.

Rizor was 3-for-3, belted two home runs and drove in five runs in the nightcap. Kelsey also had three hits.

Sam Short hit a three-run home run for Washington.

Game 1

WASHINGTON (6)
Barnum LF 4 0 3 0, Lenten 3B 3 1 1 1, Petersen P 4 0 0 0, Pilcher CF 3 1 1 1, Short C 4 1 1 0, Schroeder 1B 4 1 1 0, Cook DP 4 0 1 0, Carr SS 3 1 1 4, Riley RF 3 1 1 0, Petersen 2B 0 0 0 0. Totals 32 6 10 6,

LINN-MAR (9)
L. Harms SS 4 0 1 0, Duggan 2B 4 0 2 0, E. Rizor C/3B 4 2 2 0, Kelsey P 2 2 1 1, Olinger LF 3 2 3 1, Martins CF 2 1 0 1, M. Rizor 1B 4 1 2 2, Swanson 3B 3 2 2 2, J.Harms RF 1 0 0 0, Yearling RF/C 3 1 1 2. Totals 30 9 14 9.

Washington    100 401 0 - 6  10
Linn-Mar         005 103 x - 9  14

Petersen and Short; Kelsey and E. Rizor, Yearling (5).W - Kelsey. L- Peterson. HR - Carr, Kelsey, M.Rizor, Yearling.


Game 2

WASHINGTON (5)
Barnum LF 5 1 2 1, Lenten 3B 2 1 0 0, Petersen 2B 4 0 1 0, Pilcher CF 4 1 0 0, Short C 4 1 3 4, Schroeder 1B 3 0 0 0, Cook DP 3 1 2 0, Carr SS 3 0 1 0, Riley RF 4 0 1 0, Petersen P 0 0 0 0. Totals 32 5 10 5.

LINN-MAR (8)
L. Harms RF 4 1 2 0, Duggan 2B 4 1 2 1, E. Rizor 3B 4 0 1 1, Kelsey SS 4 1 3 0, Olinger LF 3 1 1 0, Martins CF 2 1 1 0, M. Rizor 1B 3 2 3 5, Swanson P 3 1 2 0, Yearling C 2 0 0 1. Totals 29 8 15 8.

Washington      110 300 0 - 5 10
Linn-Mar           030 500 x - 8 15

Peterson and Short; Swanson and Yearling. W - Swanson. L - Peterson. HR - Short, M.Rizor 2.

Nine-run inning sparks Linn-Mar sweep

Linn-Mar scored nine runs in the sixth innings of Thursday's opener to erase a 5-1 deficit and roared past Prairie, 11-5, in a Mississippi Valley Conference softball doubleheader.

The Lions took the nightcap, 5-2.

Prairie (11-21, 5-17) put three runs on the board in the first inning of the opener, highlighted by an RBI double by Mackenzie Blaha and a run-scoring single by Aly O’Brian.  O’Brian added an RBI single in the third that gave the Hawks a 5-0 lead.

And then Linn-Mar (14-22, 7-15) blew up Prairie starter Katie Kuck. The Lions finished with 15 hits. Kortlan Olinger was 3-of-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Alexis Kelsey also had three hits.

“I knew we could come back,” said Kelsey, an eighth grader who also was the winning pitcher. “We’ve done that before.”

“We came determined tonight and we all stepped it up and played well," Olinger said.

O’Brian, a sophomore, was 4-for-4 and Katie Carver and Blaha each had a pair of hits for Prairie.

“It really felt good at the plate tonight, but I am just trying to get on and score for the team,” said O’Brian.  "I kind of knew I had a lot of hits, but I just concentrated on each pitch.”

Linn-Mar had another eighth grader in the circle in the nightcap and Lauren Swanson scattered seven hits through the first six innings. She had a shutout heading into the seventh, but Prairie collected three hits and scored twice.

Ellie Rizor, Maggie Rizor, Leandra Martins, Olinger and Kelsey all had two hits for the Linn-Mar. Olinger drove in a pair of runs.

Taylor Stecklein led the Prairie attack with three hits and Katie Wieland and O’Brian each had two hits.  O’Brian had six hits in the twinbill.

GAME ONE

LINN-MAR (11)
L. Harms, ss, 5 0 1 1, Duggan, 2b, 4 2 2 0, E. Rizor, c, 5 1 2 1, Kelsey, p, 5 2 3 1, Olinger, lf, 5 3 3 1, Martins, cf, 3 1 0 0, M. Rizor, 1b, 4 1 1 2, Swanson, 3b, 2 0 0 0, J. Harms, ph, 1 1 1 1, Yearling, rf, 4 0 2 0. Totals 40 11 15 3

PRAIRIE (5)
Crist, c, 3 1 1 0, T. Stecklein, 2b, 4 1 0 0, Wieland, ss, 4 0 1 1, Blaha, lf, 4 2 2 1, Carver, cf, 4 1 2 0, O’Brian, 1b, 4 0 4 2, Lash, 3b, 4 0 0 0, Kuch, p, 1 0 0 0, Mumaw, cr, 0 0 0 0, Lueck, p, 1 0 0 0, A. Stecklein, 3b, 3 0 0 0.  Totals 32 5 10 6.

Linn-Mar       000 109 1 -- 11  15
Prairie          302 000 0 --  5   10

Kelsey and E. Rizor.  Kuch, Lueck (6) and Crist.  W – Kelsey  L – Kuch. 2B - Kelsey, Blaha (2), Carver.  SB - E. Rizor, Crist, T. Stecklein, Carver, O’Brian


GAME TWO

LINN-MAR (5)
L. Harms, ss, 3 0 0 0, Duggan, 2b, 4 1 1 0, E. Rizor, c, 4 2 2 0, Kelsey, p, 4 1 2 1, Olinger, lf, 4 1 2 2, Martins, cf, 4 0 2 0, M. Rizor, 1b, 4 0 2 1, Harbert, pr, 0 0 0 0, Swanson, 3b, 4 0 0 0, Yearling, rf, 2 0 0 0. Totals 33 5 11 1

PRAIRIE (2)
Crist, c, 4 1 1 0, T. Stecklein, 2b, 4 0 3 0, Wieland, ss, 3 0 2 2, Blaha, lf, 4 0 0 0, Carver, cf, 3 0 0 0, O’Brian, dh, 3 0 2 0, A. Stecklein, 3b, 0 0 0 0 Frederick, 1b, 2 0 1 0, Lash, rf, 3 0 0 0, Baetsle, p, 3 1 0 0, Mumaw, cr, 0 1 0 0.  Totals 29 2 10 2.

Linn-Mar      011 020 1 -- 5  11
Prairie         000 000 2 -- 2  10

Swanson and Yearling.  Baetsle and Crist.  W – Swanson.  L- Baetsle.  2B - E. Rizor, Olinger, Wieland, O’Brian.

No.14 Saints overpower Lions in MVC twinbill

Erin Drahozal is just an eighth grader. She hasn't taken a single class at Xavier High School yet and doesn't know her way around the school.

"I'm hoping some of the freshmen can help me out," she said Tuesday night.

She knows her way around a softball field just fine, however.

Drahozal pitched a six-hit shutout as the 14th-ranked Saints smothered Linn-Mar, 13-0, to sweep a Mississippi Valley Conference doubleheader at the Linn-Mar field.

Xavier won the first game, 10-0, in five innings behind a three-hit shutout by sophomore Jaycee Wiebold.

The Saints hit seven home runs in the doubleheader, including back-to-back-to-back shots by Tyler Sampson, Kristen Winter and Emily Walton in the seventh inning of the nightcap.

"I don't know that we've ever done that before," Coach Brian Erbe remarked.

Sampson smashed three homers in the twinbill and Miller hit a pair. Walton and Drahozal had one apiece as part of a 25-hit attack in just 12 innings of softball.

Meanwhile, the Xavier pitchers tossed a pair of shutouts and the Saints committed only one error all day. The Lions never got a runner to third base.

"I thought our pitching was very, very good. And I thought our defense was very, very good," Erbe said. "We made some good plays."

Wiebold has a 12-4 record with a 0.84 earned run average. Drahozal is 11-3 with a 1.98 ERA. They split the pitching chores for Xavier, which is 23-7 overall and 15-5 in the conference.

Drahozal played in the Junior Saints softball program and played in a state tournament, but she did not play for any all-star travel teams and didn't get real serious about the game until recently.

"This is my second year with a pitching coach," Drahozal said. "Before that I just pitched, not knowing what I was doing."

She appears to be learning quickly.

"She's a good athlete, and I think she's going to be a very, very good softball player," Erbe said. "But she is an eighth grader, so you try to hold your expectations down a little bit and bring her along as best you can. She's having a great year.

"She's learning about how to be a pitcher, as opposed to someone who just throws the ball."

Drahozal and Wiebold had plenty of support Tuesday, making life on the mound a lot easier.

Sampson went 5-for-8 in the doubleheader with two singles, three homers and six RBIs. She's hitting .414 this season with 11 homers and 42 RBIs in 30 games.

The young Linn-Mar Lions fell to 12-22 overall and 5-15 in the conference. The Lions have five eighth graders on their squad, two freshmen, six sophomores, one junior and two seniors.

Game 1

XAVIER (10)
Bedard, 3b, 4 2 2 0, Colston, rf, 3 2 3 0, Richards, ph, 1 0 0 0, Sampson, ss, 4 1 2 3, Winter, 2b, 2 2 1 2, Walton, dp, 3 1 1 0, Deutmeyer, ph, 1 0 0 0, Schulte, 1b, 3 1 1 1, Kuba-Tresnak, cf, 2 1 1 2, Miller, c, 3 0 1 0, Richards, cr, 0 0 0 0, Galligan, lf, 3 0 0 0. Totals 29 10 12 8.

LINN-MAR (0)
L. Harms, rf, 2 0 0 0, Harberts, rf, 0 0 0 0, Duggan, 2b, 2 0 1 0, E. Rizor, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Clauson, 3b, 0 0 0 0, Kelsey, ss, 2 0 0 0, Ollinger, lf, 2 0 1 0, Martin, cf, 1 0 0 0, J. Harms, cf, 1 0 0 0, M. Rizor, 1b, 1 0 0 0, Kolf, 1b, 1 0 0 0, Jensen, p, 0 0 0 0, Ryan, p, 2 0 1 0, Yearling, c, 1 0 0 0, Rentschler, c, 0 0 0 0. Totals 17 0 3 0.

Xavier    630 10 - 10 12 1
Linn-Mar  000 00 - 0 3 4

Wiebold and Miller. Jensen, Ryan (2) and Yearling, Rentschler (5). W - Wiebold. L - Jensen. 2B - Schulte, Miller. HR - Sampson, Winter. SB - Colston.

Game 2

XAVIER (13)
Bedard, 3b, 3 1 1 0, Christensen, ph, 1 0 0 0, Colston, rf, 4 0 1 1, Sampson, ss, 4 2 3 3, Wiebold, ph, 1 0 0 0, Winter, 2b, 3 2 1 1, Walton, c, 4 1 1 1, Schwach, cr, 0 1 0 0, Schulte, 1b, 3 2 2 2, Kuba-Tresnak, cf, 3 1 1 1, Drahozal, p, 3 1 2 3, Deutmeyer, ph, 1 0 0 0, Schwach, cr, 0 1 0 0, Ireland, lf, 4 1 1 0. Totals 34 13 13 12.

LINN-MAR (0)
L. Harms, rf, 3 0 1 0, Jensen, ph, 1 0 0 0, Duggan, 2b, 3 0 1 0, E. Rizor, 3b, 2 0 1 0, Kelsey, ss, 3 0 0 0, Ollinger, lf, 2 0 0 0, Martins, cf, 3 0 0 0, M. Rizor, 1b, 2 0 1 0, Kolf, ph, 1 0 0 0, Swanson, p, 2 0 0 0, J. Harms, ph, 1 0 1 0, Yearling, c, 2 0 1 0, Harberts, cr, 0 0 0 0, Clauson, ph, 1 0 0 0. Totals 26 0 6 0.

Xavier    022 010 8 - 13 13 0
Linn-Mar  000 000 0 - 0 6 2

Drahozal and Walton. Swanson and Yearling. W - Drahozal. L - Swanson. 2B - Schulte, Kuba-Tresnak, Ireland. HR - Sampson 2, Winter, Walton, Drahozal. SB - Schwach.