O’Brian helps Prairie split with Wahawks
Aly O’Brian is the female iron hawk in the College Community school district as she once again caught both games of a doubleheader at Prairie Tuesday night.
O’Brian led the Hawks to a 9-2 victory over Waterloo West in the first game of the Mississippi Valley Conference twinbill.
Waterloo West won the nightcap, 6-5, in eight innings.
O’Brian went 3-for-4 in the opener with three RBIs and the key go-ahead double in the fifth. She helped the Hawks score nine unanswered runs in the fifth and six innings.
“I have changed my swing a bit, just minor corrections, but it has been paying off,” she said.
O'Brian had a big night at the plate, but she also had a big night behind the plate as she threw out four Wahawks trying to swipe a base. O'Brian catches both ends of doubleheaders all the time.
“Mid-season it gets tiring but I like playing the position so I do whatever it takes,” she said.
Prairie trailed the nightcap, 5-4, entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Halle Lueck reached second base to start the inning on a throwing error, was bunted to third and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.
The Wahawks scored in the top of the eighth on an RBI double by Jaclyn Spencer to regain the lead, 6-5.
The Hawks posed a threat in the bottom half of the inning with a runner on second and two away. Halle Lueck hit a fly ball into shallow right and second baseman Diana Lichty made a running catch to end the game.
The Prairie girls had a Cancer Awareness night at the games. The Hawks wore pink jerseys and the umpires wore pink wristbands. The Hawks raised more than $300 for the Mercy Hall-Perrine Cancer Center.
GAME ONE
WATERLOO WEST (2)
Doering, lf, 3 0 1 0, Spencer, 1b/p, 4 1 3 1, Hansen, cf, 3 0 2 0, Medina, rf, 4 0 1 1, Gray, dp, 3 0 1 0, Daman, 3b, 0 0 0 0, Payne, p, 3 0 1 0, Lichty, 2b, 2 0 1 0, Chilcote, c, 3 1 0 0, Jones, ss, 3 0 0 0. Totals 28 2 10 2.
PRAIRIE (9)
Lash, cf, 3 1 0 2, T.Stecklein, 2b, 3 1 0 1, O’Brian, c, 4 2 3 3, Rumer, dp, 4 0 2 2, C.Lueck, lf, 0 0 0 0, Gudenkauf, 1b, 3 0 1 1, Kuch, p, 3 0 0 0, Stevenson, 3b, 1 2 0 0, A.Stecklein, ss, 3 2 0 0, H.Lueck, rf, 2 1 1 0. Totals 26 9 7 9.
Waterloo West 100 010 0 - 2 10 4
Prairie 000 045 x - 9 7 2
Payne, Spencer (5) and Chilcote; Kuch and O’Brian. W - Kuch. L - Payne. 2B - Spencer, Rumer, O’Brian.
GAME TWO
WATERLOO WEST (6)
Spencer, p/1b, 5 0 2 1, Doering, lf, 4 1 2 1, Hansen, cf, 3 2 1 0, Medina, rf, 4 0 2 2, Gray, dp, 4 0 0 0, Daman, 3b, 0 0 0 0, Payne, 1b, 4 0 1 1, Lichty, 2b, 4 0 0 0, Chilcote, c, 2 0 0 0, Stockholm, c, 2 2 2 0, Jones, ss, 3 1 2 0. Totals 35 6 12 5.
PRAIRIE (5)
Lash, cf, 3 0 0 0, T.Stecklein, 2b, 3 1 0 0, O’Brian, c, 3 0 1 0, Rumer, dp, 4 0 0 1, C.Lueck, lf, 4 0 0 1, Gudenkauf, 1b, 3 1 1 0, Usher, 3b, 2 0 0 0, Stevenson, p, 3 2 2 0, A.Stecklein, ss, 2 0 0 0, H.Lueck, rf, 4 1 1 2. Totals 27 5 5 3.
Waterloo West 002 111 01 - 6 12 4
Prairie 110 200 10 - 5 5 2
Spencer, Gray (2) and Stockholm. Stevenson, Digman (4), Kuch (6) and O’Brian. W - Gray. L - Kuch. 2B - Spencer.
