CMB holds off Greene County

COLLINS — Collins-Maxwell/Baxter eighth-grader Mikayla Houge may not have been at her best for the entire seven innings against Greene County on Friday night.

But when the Rams made things tough, Houge flexed her muscles.

Seven of Houge’s 10 strikeouts came with Ram runners in scoring position, and junior Mikayla Eslinger crushed a solo home run in the fourth inning to propel the Raiders to a 2-1 victory against the defending league champions in Heart of Iowa Conference play.

Houge was at her best with runners on base. She fanned two straight and induced a pop up with a runner on second in the second inning, got three straight strikeouts with the bases loaded in the third and left the bases loaded in the fifth, too. The only run she allowed came on a Jenna Beyers solo home run in the second inning.

“I zero in and focus even harder,” said Houge, who improved to 7-2 on the season. “I’m just trying to help my team as much as I can. It’s just easier to keep them from scoring when they don’t put the ball in play.”

The Raiders were held to three hits at the plate by Greene County starter Hannah Promes. They plated an unearned run in the first inning and then Eslinger’s one-out blast over the left-field fence in the fourth gave CMB (15-6 overall, 9-2 in the HOIC) the lead for good.

“I told the girls we did enough to win and that’s all that matters,” CMB coach Troy Houge said. “We didn’t do any more than enough but we did enough to win.”

Junior Megan Ritter led off the game by reaching on an error. She stole second, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Katie Camp and then scored on junior Abbey Kahler’s ground out to the shortstop.

Ritter singled and stole second in the third but was stranded at third after Promes induced back-to-back groundouts to the shortstop.

Eslinger’s no-doubter in the fourth was a rocket off the bat. It cleared the fence in left field by several feet.

“Hannah Promes threw a pretty good game, too,” Coach Houge said. “We didn’t adjust like we normally do. She got herself out of a jam in the seventh. Part of not adjusting is a credit to (Promes) for keeping us off balance. (Greene County’s coach) knows us and knows how to pitch to us, too.

“(Eslinger) made an adjustment on her second at-bat and hit it out. That was huge obviously.”

The Raiders threatened in the seventh.

They loaded the bases with one out following a walk by Kahler, a double by senior Payge Jurgens and a walk by Eslinger. Promes got out of the jam with a strikeout and a ground out to third.

Houge’s earned run average continues to hover around 1.50. She scattered eight hits Friday and stranded 10 Ram runners on base.

Greene County loaded the bases with no outs in the third but failed to score after Houge struck out the 4-5-6 hitters in order. She fanned the first two batters in the fifth but needed a line out to second to get out of another bases-loaded situation.

In the seventh, Greene County (7-8, 4-5) continued to put pressure on Houge. Back-to-back singles put runners on second and third with nobody out, but Houge ended the game with two strikeouts and a pop out to Jordynn Wesselink at shortstop.

“I just go right after them. I know I can get them out,” Mikayla Houge said. “Those situations make you better.”

Despite Greene County’s .500 record, Coach Houge knew coming into the game that his team would have its hands full. They led the Rams last year for most of both meetings but lost in the final innings.

“Last year, when they got third in the state, we led them in both games, and they came back to win close games,” Coach Houge said. “It’s always a good game no matter how good the other team is.

“We did what good teams do. We did what we had to do to finish out the game.”

CMB hosts North Polk at 7 p.m. Monday. The Raiders play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Prairie City-Monroe.

Thursday

CMB 4, Van Meter 3

VAN METER — Kahler improved to 7-1 in the circle and Wesselink had two hits at the plate as the Raiders downed 2A No. 6 Van Meter on Thursday.

The Raiders lost a 2-0 lead but scored the winning run off a Van Meter error in the seventh inning.

Kahler allowed two earned runs on six hits and struck out seven in the win. Her season earned run average is now under 2.00.

Wesselink’s hits came in the two innings CMB scored in. She followed a Mikayla Houge single with a single of her own in the second and then Ritter walked to load the bases. Camp drove in Mikayla Houge to make it 1-0.

Wesselink doubled in the fourth, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Kaitlynn Kelly and then scored on Ritter’s RBI bunt.

Van Meter (16-6) tied the game with a pair of runs in the sixth.

In the seventh, Camp walked, took second on Kahler’s sacrifice bunt and then scored the winning run when a hard hit ball to third base by Jurgens resulted in a throwing error by the Bulldogs.

Camp singled, walked and had an RBI in the win. Jurgens, Mikayla Houge and Kelly had one hit apiece, while Ritter walked an had an RBI.