Lynnville-Sully playoff dreams get washed away

NEW SHARON — With a cool wind picking up and rain fast approaching, the Lynnville-Sully softball team appeared to be in control Monday night. Playing North Mahaska in a second-round Class 1A playoff game, L-S reclaimed the lead in the top of the fifth, 5-4. Then the Hawks had two outs with no runners on in the bottom half of the frame. One more out, and the game would be official if the clouds decided to finally open up. “We saw the weather moving in, so we knew the fifth was a critical inning,” L-S coach Stacey Alberts said. “We had two outs in the bottom of the fifth. Two outs, just get out of the inning.” Just like that, however, the Warhawks came back off the ropes, scoring three runs and taking their first lead of the night at 7-5. L-S had one out and an 0-2 count on Courtney Van Wyk in the top of the sixth when lightning stopped the action. Umpires called for a 30-minute delay and noted the game couldn’t be declared final until it went the full distance since it was playoffs. Some 10 minutes into the delay, the rain hit in full force. During the delay, umpires called state softball officials and discovered the game could be declared official after five innings. With that, North Mahaska was declared the 7-5 winner and the L-S season abruptly ended at 15-15. “I wasn’t sure what the rule was,” Alberts said. “The umpires didn’t know for sure, so they called the state. They made the right call. We couldn’t do anything about the weather moving in. That’s the way the ball bounces, at least tonight.” L-S took control of the game from the start, thanks in no small part to bad bounces and throws by the host team. Josie Morris drew a walk for the Hawks to start the game, and Bre Rozendaal reached base on an error. Both players scored thanks to a second errant throw, giving L-S an early 2-0 lead without recording a hit. “It was a nice way to start,” Alberts said of the lead. “Anytime you can jump ahead it’s nice. But at the same time, we knew two wasn’t going to do it. It was not enough to sit on our heels. I don’t feel like our relaxed at all. It wasn’t like we were satisfied.” Proof came in the third. After going hitless the first two innings, the L-S bats started to come alive in the third. Morris led off the inning with a single, and later scored on a two-out, two-run homer by Caitlin Cross that made the score 4-0. “Caitlin had two strikes on her,” Alberts noted. “She kept battling, and waited for the pitch she wanted. That was her first of the year. She’s been close a few times.” As it turns out, the Hawks would need every run they had gotten to that point. In the bottom half of the frame, the Warhawk bats got going. A lead-off walk and single led to a two-run double. Another single, combined with a bad throw to first, led to another run and a 4-3 score. Alberts replaced starter Jessica Kling with Cross as the Warhawks had runners on second and third with just one out. “Jessica gave up a couple of hits in the third, and we didn’t help her defensively,” Alberts said. “I felt like we needed a pitching change at that point. Jessica could have come back later. I wanted to give the batters a different look.” The next North Mahaska batter reached on an L-S error, allowing the tying run to score. A second runner attempted to score but was thrown out at the plate by L-S catcher Jamie Harthoorn. Both teams went down in order in the fourth, setting up the all-important fifth inning. Morris led off and once again reached base, this time on a single. Rozendaal followed up with a single, though Taylor Van Wyk, the courtesy runner for Morris, was trapped between second and third base. Kling reached on an error, moving Rozendaal’s courtesy runner Brooke Van Soelen to third. A grounder by Cross scored Van Soelen and put L-S up 5-4. In the bottom of the fifth, the Warhawk lead-off batter got on with a single despite a fine defensive effort by Morris. After a pop out, Morris got revenge by nabbing the runner sliding into second for a second out, seemingly leaving the Hawk lead intact. North Mahaska wasn’t finished yet, however. The next batter hit a single, stole second, then went to third on another single. An L-S error allowed the tying run to come across the plate. Following a walk, the Warhawks had runners on second and third. A single scored both of those runners, giving North Mahaska its first lead of the game at 7-5. “We just defensively had a couple of lapses, which allowed them to break open the inning,” Alberts lamented. “After we had two outs, the next couple of batters had hits. There were a couple of times we could have made some defensively plays.” Despite the tough way to end the season, Alberts felt good about the team’s accomplishments. “I couldn’t be more proud of these kids,” she said. “They really have done a phenomenal job of turning the program around in just a few years. They showed tremendous resiliency with some of the things they have faced.”