Xavier Softball

Saints bounced by No. 1 Clippers, 18-3

OXFORD – It’s the most bucolic of small town softball settings, an immaculately groomed dirt diamond with bleachers filled by townsfolk from all around and the entire outdoor fence ringed by fans in lawn chairs.

The big city girls from Xavier seemed like they belonged there at the start Tuesday night, throwing a slight scare into the hometown Clear Creek Amana Clippers.

The Saints’ hopes were short-lived, however, as the Class 4A top-ranked team showed why it sports a 41-1 record and won the Class 3A state title last year.

Ahead just 4-1 after three innings, the Clippers unloaded for five runs in the fourth and nine more in the fifth in sailing to an 18-3 five inning rout over Xavier (24-18) in a regional final.

“I thought we started out a little tight,” said Coach Jim White, who’s been at the helm at CCA for 18 years with a powerhouse program learned from Burlington’s legendary Dick Wagner.

“I’ve always said the regional final is the toughest game you have because you’re thinking ahead to the prize of going to state. Too often, you think too much about the prize and not about the game.”

There’s another thing, White noted.

It’s been said that his team may be the best in the state among all schools. Its only loss this year early in the season was to Ankeny, the top-ranked Class 5A team, and that defeat was avenged two weeks later.

“When people keep telling you how great you are,” White said, “these 16, 17, 18-year-old girls sometimes forget they still have to play the game.”

The Saints certainly didn’t seem intimidated, even after the Clippers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a monster home run by slugger Caitlin Wnek.

The senior shortstop, one of four players on her team with a batting average above .500, proved a terror all night, going 3-for-4 with five runs batted in with a double, triple and homer.

Xavier rallied right back in the bottom of the first, manufacturing a score on a hit batter and a sacrifice fly by Jamie Feltes that plated Allison Schwach.

The Saints stranded two in the inning and two more in the second on a hit by Erica Miller and an uncharacteristic error by the Clippers.

“We gave ourselves opportunities early and put ourselves in a position to get some runs,” said Xavier interim coach Nikki Price. “We just didn’t capitalize on our scoring opportunities. But we kept plugging away.”

Their gutsy play was no match for the home-town favorites, though. CCA tacked on two runs in the third on just one hit, but unleashed a flurry of hits over the next two innings.

The Clippers chased Saints ace Jacey Wiebold after putting their first five batters on base in the fourth, then were no kinder to reliever Erin Drahozal. They more than batted around in both the fourth and the fifth innings, tallying 14 runs on 11 hits.

“Once we relaxed a bit, we really started hitting the ball,” White said.

Xavier picked up two runs of its own in the fourth when freshman pinch-hitter Morgan Breitbach parked a homer to center off star Clipper pitcher Maliah Fligg.

“She’d been struggling a little bit with our hitters,” said Breitbach. “I waited for my pitch and got one on the inside half of the plate. I was able to get out in front of it."

It was her first varsity home run and caused White to pull Fligg. “It was a big adrenalin rush,” Breitbach said.

While CCA goes on to play West Delaware (30-10) next Tuesday in the first round of the state tournament at Fort Dodge, the Saints’ season is over. With only two seniors on the roster, their future appears bright.

“They’re a very young team,” White said. “They’re going to be very good next year. They’re a real scrappy team.”

Xavier senior Lindsay Ireland, the only upperclassman in the lineup after fellow senior Kelsey Kuba-Tresnak tore her ACL in the opening game, said it’s been a good year for the Saints.

“We improved every day of the season,” she said. “We always played with energy, and we came ready to play each and every game.

“Even tonight, we were able to shake them up a little bit. But you just can’t stop a good team like that.”

Clear Creek Amana  202 59 – 18 15 2
Xavier                   100 20 –   3  5  2

Maliah Fligg, Miranda Hochstetler (4) and Cassie Downs; Jacey Wiebold, Erin Drahozal (4) and Erica Miller. W – Fligg (25-1). L – Wiebold (11-10). 2B - Wnek, Strub 2, Walls. 3B - Wnek, Neubauer. HR - Wnek, Breitbach.

Saints earn date with No. 1 Clippers

The Xavier Saints respect the Clear Creek Amana softball program and its rich tradition, but they don't fear the top-ranked Clippers.

The Saints say they're looking forward to the challenge of battling Clear Creek Amana Tuesday in the Class 4A regional finals, with a berth in the state tournament hanging in the balance.

Clear Creek Amana won the Class 3A state title last year and landed in 4A this year when the IGHSAU added another class.

"I feel good," Xavier shortstop Hayley Deutmeyer said Saturday night. "I feel like we're just going to go in and do what we know how to do and come out with a 'W'."

The Saints earned a date in the regional finals by clubbing Dubuque Wahlert, 14-3, Saturday in the semifinals at Bob Erusha Field.

Xavier has a modest 24-17 record and Clear Creek Amana is sitting at 40-1, but the Saints have played a steady diet of Class 5A schools this year and think the competition they've faced in the Mississippi Valley Conference will help them against the Clippers.

"Having the tougher schedule and facing much tougher pitching in Class 5A helps," said right fielder Sydney Galligan. "Hopefully we'll be ready to go out and score some runs. Obviously they're going to score runs, too.

"We just have to make sure we're on top of our game and ready to go. They have a really good program and really good history, but hopefully we can pull that one out, too."

Xavier scored plenty of runs against Wahlert. The Saints swept a twinbill from the Golden Eagles on May 31, 6-2 and 6-0, but they brought their hitting shoes to the ballpark Saturday and crossed the plate 14 times in seven innings.

"They were just throwing the ball where we could hit it. And we were hitting the ball well," said Deutmeyer, who belted a long home run to left field to start Xavier's scoring in the second inning.

Dubuque Wahlert (16-25) led 2-0 and 3-1 in the early innings, but Xavier scored five runs in the third inning and three more runs in the fourth to take command at 9-3. They tacked on two runs in the fifth, another run in the sixth and two more in the top of the seventh as part of a 16-hit attack.

Nikki Price, Xavier's interim head coach, called it a total team effort. She said the Saints are a better ballclub now than when they faced Wahlert in late May.

"A little more focused," said Price, who is running the club while Brian Erbe continues to recuperate from heart surgery. "It's later in the season, we're playing well now.

"Earlier in the season we had some little mixups, but we're playing well at the right time and we're focused and ready to go."

Every member of the starting lineup made a contribution to the 14-run outburst.

Galligan went 3-for-4 and scored twice. Erin Drahozal and Allison Schwach both went 3-for-5, while Deutmeyer and Erica Miller were both 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Drahozal and Jenna Schulte drove in two runs apiece. Schulte and Deutmeyer scored three times.

Jacey Wiebold pitched the first four innings to get the victory and Drahozal pitched the last three frames.

Price is confident the Saints will be ready to play Clear Creek Amana on Tuesday.

"It's an exciting opportunity and a challenge," she said. "We're going to play the No. 1-ranked team, but we're going to give them everything we've got. We're going to play good defense, hit the ball, pitch well and we'll see how it goes.

"They have nothing to lose," said Price of her players. "There's no pressure on them. They're playing well and we've worked hard every day. Yeah, we'll be ready to go."

XAVIER (14)
Schwach, 2b, 5 1 3 0, Galligan, rf, 4 2 3 1, Feltes, 3b, 4 0 1 0, Schulte, 1b, 3 3 1 2, Drahozal, dp/p, 5 2 3 2, Richards, pr, 0 1 0 0, Deutmeyer, ss, 4 3 2 3, Ireland, lf, 2 1 0 1, Breitbach, ph, 1 0 0 0, Miller, c, 4 0 2 3, Bastian, cr, 0 0 0 0, Colston, cf, 5 1 1 0, Wiebold, p, 0 0 0 0. Totals 37 14 16 12.

WAHLERT (3)
McAllister, cf, 3 1 2 0, Schmitt, 2b, 3 2 2 0, Nilles, ss, 4 0 4 1, Tath, p, 3 0 0 0, Rogers, p, 1 0 0 0, Link, lf, 3 0 0 1, Koppes, 1b, 3 0 1 0, Bahl, c, 3 0 0 0, Nauman, 3b, 3 0 0 0, Callahan, rf, 3 0 0 0. Totals 29 3 9 2.

Xavier        015 321 2 - 14 16 1
Wahlert     201 000 0 -   3  9 3

Wiebold, Drahozal (5) and Miller; Tath, Rogers (4), Tath (6) and Bahl. W - Wiebold (11-9). L - Tath (10-11). 2B - Schulte, Drahozal, Miller, Schmitt, Koppes. HR - Deutmeyer. SB - Feltes, Richards, Deutmeyer, Ireland.

Error-plagued Hawks swept by Saints

Both teams hit the ball well Tuesday night, but only one caught it and threw it well.

Xavier beat Prairie, 5-3 and 12-7, to sweep a Mississippi Conference softball doubleheader at Prairie.

Prairie (8-28, 6-20) out-hit Xavier (23-17, 15-11) in the opener, 11-6, but the Hawks also committed six errors.

“They outplayed us tonight,” explained Prairie Coach Kimi Hynek. “They played excellent defense and that was the difference maker in both games.”

Jenna Schulte and Morgan Breitbach each had two hits in game one for the Saints, while Brittney Lash and Aly O’Brian each garnered two hits for the Hawks.

“It felt good tonight because I haven’t been hitting as well as I would like,” said Breitbach, who came back and got two more hits in the nightcap.  “I just tried to hit it where it was pitched.”

Game two saw Xavier put up five first-inning runs on three hits and four Prairie errors.

Erin Drahozal and Hayley Deutmeyer joined Breitbach with two hits in game two for the Saints.  Lash, Malia Gudenkauf, and Olivia Usher each picked up two hits for Prairie.

“They were pitching me inside-outside and I went deep in the count each at-bat so I was able to expect a good pitch to hit,” explalined Lash.

Despite scattering 22 hits, Xavier saw Jacey Wiebold and Drahozal pick up complete game victories behind error free defense.

“We stayed fairly focused," said Xavier interim coach Nikki Price.  “We kept working hard on defense and attacking on offense.”

Prairie's next game is a Class 5A regional semifinal Saturday at Waterloo East. Xavier hosts a Class 4A semifinal Saturday against either Marion or Dubuque Wahlert.

GAME ONE

XAVIER (5)
Schwach 2b, 4 1 1 1, Galligan lf, 4 1 0 0, Feltes 3b, 3 0 0 0, Schulte 1b, 4 1 2 1, Drahozal dh, 4 0 1 1, Wiebold p, 0 0 0 0, Duetmeyer ss, 4 0 0 0, Breitbach rf, 4 1 2 0, Miller c, 1 0 0 0, Colston cf, 3 1 0 0. Totals 31 5 6 3.

PRAIRIE (3)
Lash cf, 3 1 2 1, T.Stecklein 2b, 4 0 1 0, O’Brian c, 4 0 2 1, Meyer cr, 0 0 0 0, Rumer dh, 4 1 1 0, A.Stecklein ss, 0 0 0 0, Kuch p, 4 0 1 1, Stevenson 3b, 3 0 1 0, Gudenkauf 1b, 3 1 1 0, C.Lueck lf, 3 0 1 0, Mumaw rf, 2 0 1 0. Totals 30 3 11 3.

Xavier         003 002 0 --  5  6  0
Prairie         001 110 0 --  3 11 6

Wiebold and Miller. Kuch and O’Brian W - Wiebold L - Kuch 2B - Drahozal, Rumer.

GAME TWO

XAVIER (12)
Schwach 2b, 5 1 1 0, Galligan dh, 5 1 1 0, Ireland lf, 0 0 0 0, Drahozal p, 5 2 2 1, Schulte 1b, 4 2 1 0, Duetmeyer ss, 3 2 2 0, Breitbach rf, 4 2 2 3, Miller c, 3 2 1 2, Colston cf, 3 0 1 1. Totals 36 12 12 7.

PRAIRIE (7)
Lash cf, 3 1 2 1, T.Stecklein 2b, 4 1 1 1, O’Brian c, 3 0 1 1, Rumer dh, 3 1 0 0, A.Stecklein ss, 0 0 0 0, Kuch p, 1 1 1 0, Stevenson p, 2 0 0 0, Usher 3b, 4 1 2 0, Gudenkauf 1b, 3 2 2 2, C.Lueck lf, 3 0 0 0, Mumaw rf, 1 0 1 1, H.Lueck rf, 3 0 1 0. Totals 30 7 11 6.

Xavier         503 310 0 --  12 12 0
Prairie         020 212 0 --   7 11  5

Drahozal and Miller.  Kuch, Stevenson (2), Kuch (4) and O’Brian. W - Drahozal. L - Kuch.  2B - Lash, Usher, Gudenkauf 2.  3B - Breitbach. SB - Drahozal, Duetmeyer, Gudenkauf, H.Lueck.

Drahozal tosses 3-hit shutout for Saints

Erin Drahozal pitched a three-hit shutout Monday night as the Xavier Saints blanked Washington (Iowa), 10-0, in the second game of a non-conference doubleheader at Bob Erusha Field.

Washington took the first game, 8-6.

Courtney Colston drove in two runs and scored two runs in the second game for Xavier (21-17). Drahozal also scored twice.

Drahozal went 2-for-3 with a home run in the first game. Colston also went 2-for-3. Jacey Wiebold took the loss on the mound.