Thursday preps: Comets score split at seventh-ranked Washington
May 24—WASHINGTON — Maclain Hickenbottom picked up two huge career milestones on Thursday night, both of which helped the Cardinal softball team pick up its most impressive win of the season's opening week.
Hickenbottom hammered her first varsity high school home run in the second game of a varsity doubleheader, sending a ball over the fence in center giving the Comets an early two-run lead. Cynthia Albert connected on a pair of run-scoring hits, including a two-run double with two outs in the fourth inning to help Cardinal secure a 7-4 win over seventh-ranked (4A) Washington securing Hickenbottom's first varsity win in the pitching circle.
Emma Becker combined for three hits in the doubleheader for the Comets, driving in two runs with a double and a triple in game one while scoring three of Cardinal's 10 runs against the Demons. Alyvia Anderson went 4-4 for Washington in a 10-3 win over the Comets in game one of the doubleheader, driving in three runs while scoring twice.
Cardinal (3-1) hosts No. 14 (1A) Twin Cedars on Wednesday.
Oskaloosa 6, Centerville 2
CENTERVILLE — Cylee Smith doubled as part of a three-hit effort at the plate for the Indians, driving in two runs, while picking up the win in the pitching circle allowing just two runs on six hits over seven innings against the Redettes.
Lydia Van Veldhuizen added an RBI triple for Oskaloosa. Payden Hoffman led Centerville with two hits, scoring a run in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Kaylee Davis while Matty Kovacevich added a run-scoring hit in the third for the Redettes, driving in Rylee Shilling.
Centerville (1-1) will play host to a six-team tournament on Saturday.
Orient-Macksburg 14, Moravia 11
ORIENT — Emma Boswell and Emily Campbell each hammered out four-hit efforts at the plate, helping the Bulldogs build an eight-run lead before holding off the Mohawks in the final two innings of the Bluegrass Conference slugfest.
Boswell led Orient-Macksburg, going 4-5 with a pair of home runs and a double while driving in six runs and scoring four times. Campbell also went 4-5 against the Mohawks with a double and two RBI to help the Bulldogs hold off a charge by Moravia that included 14 hits over seven innings off senior pitcher Kinsey Eslinger.
Moravia (0-2, 0-1 Bluegrass) heads to the Centerville Redette Invitational on Saturday.
Ankeny Christian Academy 17, Moulton-Udell 0
ANKENY — Katie Quick and Riese Gjerde each homered and doubled while combining to drive in four runs while scoring four more as ACA jumped out to a 10-0 lead after just one inning of a Bluegrass Conference-opening win.
Ashlyn Lasley connected on the only hit of the season opener for M-U, opening the top of third inning with a single up the middle. Gjerde responded by striking out the next three batters to clinch the shutout win for ACA.
M-U (0-1, 0-1 Bluegrass) heads to No. 14 (1A) Twin Cedars on Tuesday.
Highland 12, Pekin 0
RIVERSIDE — The Panthers failed to put a runner on base against the Huskies, going 0-16 at the plate over four innings in a season-opening Southeast Iowa Superconference north division loss.
Pekin (0-1, 0-1 SEI north) hits the road on Tuesday traveling to Winfield-Mount Union.
PREP BASEBALL
Ankeny Christian Academy 14, Moulton-Udell 4
ANKENY — Landon Nehring doubled as part of a three-hit effort for Ankeny Christian Academy, scoring twice while driving in a run in a Bluegrass Conference victory over M-U.
Creighton Maschka went 2-3 at the plate for ACA, driving in three runs while scoring once. Porter Kaster doubled in one of M-U's four runs in the top of the fifth.
Moulton-Udell (0-1, 0-1 Bluegrass) hosts Twin Cedars on Tuesday.
Highland 3, Pekin 2 (8)
RIVERSIDE — JaeDon Wolver protected a two-run lead into the sixth inning before the Huskies rallied to force extra innings, ultimately walking off with a Southeast Iowa Superconference north division victory in extra innings.
Sven Dahlstrom doubled in Robert Brown in the second inning to put the Panthers on top before scoring on an RBI single by Riley Smith. Wolver allowed just one hit over five shutout innings, striking out 10 batters.
Pekin (0-1, 0-1 SEI north) hosts Van Buren County on Wednesday.
