Metro Sports Report

Bosch grabs slim lead in IWSL race

Bosch Financial swept its doubleheader against Emil's Hideaway Sunday  at Busse Field and grabbed a half-game lead in the Iowa Women's  Softball League standings with one week left in the season.

Bosch Financial sports an overall record of 9-2-3, with Ironside  Apparel a half-tick behind at 8-2-4.

BOSCH SWEEPS EMIL'S

Autumn McDanel of Belmont tossed a five-hit shutout as Bosch Financial  blanked Emil's Hideway, 5-0, in the first game of their doubleheader.

Elison Ollinger of Belmont and Lexi Merritt of Grand View ripped  back-to-back RBI triples in the fourth inning when Bosch scored three  runs to open a 4-0 advantage.

Merritt was 2-for-2. Emma McDanel of Iowa Wesleyan and Kaylee Watson  of Grand View had RBI singles. Paige Timmerman of Luther lofted a  sacrifice fly.

Porter keeps Bosch tied for IWSL lead

With one swing of her bat, Georgia Porter kept Bosch Financial tied  for first place in the Iowa Women's Softball League Sunday.

Porter, who plays at Simpson College, laced a two-run double with two  outs in the bottom of the last inning to give Bosch Financial a  dramatic 5-4 walk-off victory over Ironside Apparel in the second game  of their doubleheader at Busse Field.

Ironside Apparel won the first game, 5-3, and the split left both  clubs with identical 7-2-3 records with two weeks left in the season.

Bosch Financial trailed 4-2 entering the bottom of the last inning in  the second game of their twinbill. Liv Erickson of Simpson walked,  Payton Bruner of Mount Mercy hit a single and Kaylee Watson of Grand  View drove in Erickson with an RBI single to make it 4-3.

Erica Oler of UNI recorded the second out of the inning with a  strikeout, but then Porter ripped her double to right-center to drive  in Bruner and Watson with the decisive runs.

Watson had two hits in the 5-4 victory with a double and two runs.  Emma Schnell of Northwestern College, making her debut in the IWSL,  pitched three effective innings in relief to get the victory.

McFarlane belts 2 homers against Halvorson

Haley McFarlane is the only player in the history of the Iowa Women's  Softball League to belt two home runs in a single game.

She did it last year and now she's done it again.

McFarlane socked a pair of solo homers as Ironside Apparel trimmed  Emil's Hideaway, 2-1, in the first game of their doubleheader Sunday  at Busse Field.

McFarlane hit both of her home runs against Natalie Halvorson, the top  pitcher for the DePaul Blue Demons this year. McFarlane and Halvorson  were teammates at Cedar Rapids Prairie.

McFarlane, who plays at Saint Cloud State, hit a line drive over the  wall in left field for her first homer. She belted a long shot off the  scoreboard in left-center for her second homer.

Kelsey Aikey of Western Kentucky was the winning pitcher for Ironside  Apparel in the 2-1 victory. She tossed a four-hitter with four  strikeouts.

Ironside Apparel won the second game, 4-2, to sweep the doubleheader.  McFarlane had two sacrifice flies, giving her four RBIs for the day.

Icemen stay red-hot for PG title

Ryan Sutterer would have loved a chance to play in a major Perfect Game tournament at a place like Prospect Meadows when he was a kid growing up in Minnesota, but coaching a team here the past four days was pretty special as well.

Sutterer led the Minnesota Icemen to the title of the 2019 WWBA 15U National Championship Tuesday with a 9-4 victory over the Elite Baseball Training team from Aurora, Ill., in the finals at Prospect Meadows.

The Icemen finished with a 6-0-1 record in the tournament, which featured elite travel teams from seven states.

“It’s awesome,” said Sutterer. “Those guys came on and played better than I’ve seen them play in a long time. They’ve been working their tails off.

“The favorite part of the weekend is seeing them come together as a team,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve seen them jell from top to bottom. I couldn’t be any happier for them. It’s a lot of fun.”

The Icemen list 25 players on their roster from 15 different high schools in Minnesota, with their headquarters in the North Metro area of the Twin Cities in Blaine. These one-time strangers have become good friends and teammates, and they were all smiles when they posed with their handsome trophy Tuesday after winning the title.

“It’s awesome. Big-time,” said Ethan Loss, who was named the MVP of the tournament. “Big-time competition, and it’s awesome to end up on top.”