Tue - 28 Jun
Written by Jim Ecker
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.
