The second year of the Iowa Women's Softball League got off to an impressive start Sunday with lots of tight games and lots of smiles.
The Metro Sports Report team in the Central Division and Hawkeye Convenience Stores in the Eastern Division both posted a pair of victories to take the early league in the standings.
The IWSL is playing a 16-game season this year with games at Simpson College and Mount Mercy University. The IWSL is the only women's summer college softball league in Iowa and is sponsored by Hawkeye Convenience Stores.
METRO SPORTS REPORT SWEEPS BOSCH
Metro Sports Report won a pair of exciting games against Bosch Financial, 9-8 and 3-2, in the debut of the new Central Division.
Megan Rushing of South Dakota State belted a solo home run for the MSR team in the opener and Georgia Porter of Simpson had two hits, including an RBI single. Sam Koehn of Marshall University and Lexi Merritt of Grand View also had RBI singles for the winners.
Abby Carlin had a rare accomplishment for Metro Sports Report in the opener. She pitched three perfect innings with five strikeouts to begin the ballgame and was credited with the victory, and she returned to the circle in the seventh inning to get the final out and a save as well.
Bosch Financial smashed three home runs in the 9-8 setback as they rallied from big deficits, but it wasn't quite enough. Ashley Allen of Simpson hit a two-run homer, Erica Kirgan from Upper Iowa (2016 grad) socked a solo homer and Addison Westercamp of Southwestern Community College also had a two-run homer in the seventh inning when Bosch Financial scored five runs before the rally ended. Westercamp also hit a double and was 2-for-3.
Bosch Financial took a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning of the second game on a two-run single by Westercamp, but Metro Sports Report rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh for the walk-off victory.
Megan Rushing of South Dakota State began the seventh inning for MSR with a double and scored on an RBI single by Kayla Reusche of Simpson. Melanie Rasmussen of Missouri Western tied the game, 2-2, with an RBI single and Merritt scored the winning run on an infield grounder.
Emma Olejniczak of the University of Northern Iowa struck out seven batters in three scoreless innings as the starting pitcher for Bosch Financial. Arianna Kim of Simpson also tossed three scoreless frames for Bosch.
Olivia Goodale of Indian Hills and Courtney Johannes of NIACC combined to pitch a strong game for Metro Sports Report in Game 2, with Johannes getting the victory in relief. Goodale pitched four scoreless innings to begin the contest.
HAWKEYE CONVENIENCE STORES 3, EMIL'S HIDEAWAY 1
Morgan Christner of Illinois State pitched five scoreless innings for Hawkeye Convenience Stores to get the victory. Jenna Schwartzhoff of Clarke tossed the last two innings for the save.
Erin Drahozal of Upper Iowa collected two RBIs for the winners.
Hailey Duwa of Western Illinois, Megan Weber of Coe and Erin Kuba of Utah State had two hits for Emil's Hideaway. Kelsey Aikey of Western Kentucky pitched a complete game for Emil's but was saddled with the loss.
IRONSIDE APPAREL 2, EMIL'S HIDEAWAY 1
Brooke Craig of UNI pitched a strong game for Ironside Apparel in the victory over Emil's. Tawney Menster of Mount Mercy and Natalie Halvorson of Kirkwood scored for Ironside, which tallied in the bottom of the sixth inning to snap a 1-1 tie.
Sydney Robertson of Mount Mercy and Duwa had two hits for Emil's in the setback. Emily Oler of Mount Mercy pitched a complete game but was the hard-luck loser.
HAWKEYE CONVENIENCE STORES 9, IRONSIDE APPAREL 5
Hawkeye Convenience Stores exploded for seven runs in the sixth inning to grab the nightcap. Drahozal pitched five innings for the victory and Schwartzhoff tossed two frames for another save.
Tiana Drahn of UNI had two hits and drove in three runs for the winners. Drahozal had three hits. Brie Tauber of Clarke and Alyssa Wiebel of Illinois State had two hits.
IOWA WOMEN'S SOFTBALL LEAGUE
Sunday's Results
Metro Sports Report 9, Bosch Financial 8
Metro Sports Report 3, Bosch Financial 2
Hawkeye Convenience Stores 3, Emil's Hideaway 1
Ironside Apparel 2, Emil's Hideaway 1
Hawkeye Convenience Stores 9, Ironside Apparel 4
Standings
Metro Sports Report 2-0
Hawkeye Convenience Stores 2-0
Ironside Apparel 1-1
Bosch Financial 0-2
Emil's Hideaway 0-2
Schedule for June 10
At Mount Mercy
12 p.m. - Ironside Apparel vs Emil's Hideaway
1:45 - Ironside Apparel vs Hawkeye Convenience Stores
3:30 - Emil's Hideaway vs Hawkeye Convenience Stores
At Simpson
1 p.m. - Metro Sports Report vs Bosch Financial (2)
