CMB gets patient, rallies past Saydel

COLLINS — With just two base runners in the first four innings Friday, the Collins-Maxwell/Baxter softball team was in jeopardy of dropping another Heart of Iowa Conference game.

The Class 2A No. 4 Raiders trailed 4-0 and didn’t look like a team on that night that had an ability to rally.

But CMB stuck to the process, began taking pitches that were out of the zone and rallied for a big conference victory over Saydel. The Raiders scored all five of their runs in the fifth inning and won the HOIC game 5-4.

“We just tried to stay in the process and keep doing what we were doing,” CMB coach Troy Houge said. “We didn’t play bad. Their two best hitters got a few hits off us, but we stayed with it.”

All the Raiders had to show for themselves offensively in the first four innings were a two-out single by junior Jordynn Wesselink and a walk by freshman Mikayla Houge.

In the fifth, the Raiders stopped swinging at bad pitches and found a way — any way — to get on base.

Freshman Holly Jessen thought she had ball four on a 3-1 count, but homeplate umpire Brian Hazelton called strike two after Jessen started her trot to first base.

Frustrated by the late call, Jessen picked up her bat and laced a single to left field to give the Raiders a lead-off single.

“At first, it was irritating because he didn’t call it right away,” Jessen said. “Then, I just got the bat, tried to calm down and then I hit it.”

Senior Heather Jessen followed with a walk and then an error by Saydel loaded the bases with no outs.

With one out, senior Megan Ritter put the Raiders on the board with an RBI bases-loaded walk. Saydel was unable to make an out off a ground ball hit by sophomore Hannah Caple. That kept the bases loaded and Houge and senior Abbey Kahler both got RBI walks to make it 4-4.

Holly Jessen returned to the plate with two outs in the frame, and this time her infield RBI single put the Raiders in front for good.

“We had the bases loaded for a long time in that inning, and I think we just fed off each other,” Holly Jessen said. “If one girl got a hit or a walk, the next girl wanted to do the same.

“That was a pretty big win.”

Saydel jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. The Eagles got to CMB’s starting pitcher, Kahler, with three straight hits that plated two runs. The inning started with a one-out softly hit infield single that barely stayed fair down the first-base line.

Then Lindsay Bianchi smoked a double to the gap in left-center field to put two runners on base. Anneliese Barton made it 2-0 with a two-RBI double.

“We knew they would give us our best shot and get after us,” Coach Houge said.

While Saydel’s hard-hit balls were finding gaps and dropping down for hits, CMB couldn’t find a way to get base early. They smoked several pitches in the first few innings but had nothing to show for it.

Saydel made a few diving catches in the field and other balls that were hit by CMB went right to Eagle players.

“We hit some balls hard, but they made plays,” Coach Houge said. “Once we got going, we did a good job of making them work, not chasing pitches and making sure we are hitting the good pitches. Then she started throwing balls and we didn’t swing. That gave us some base runners and got us going a little bit. I told them to take it a batter and a runner at a time. We’ll take walks. We just needed some runners on base.”

Saydel got a lead-off home run by Shelby Weber in the fifth to make it 3-0. The Eagle lead grew to 4-0 in that inning after CMB committed a two-out error.

After CMB went up 5-4 in the fifth inning, Saydel opened the sixth with an Alexis Carney single. Kahler struck out the next two batters, and the inning ended with a double play as Caple threw out Carney trying to steal second.

Saydel once again put pressure on Kahler and the CMB defense in the seventh.

Weber opened the frame with a double. She went to second after a sacrifice bunt.

The Eagles elected to bunt again with a runner on third base. This time, Kahler fielded it, looked back courtesy runner Deleaney Shinn at third and then fired to first for the out. Shinn took off for home after the throw, but senior Veronica Condon ended the game when she gunned down Shinn at the plate.

“We made two double plays tonight. That last one was huge. That’s us showing what we are capable of,” Coach Houge said. “Vern (Condon) hasn’t played a lot of first base for us because she was behind Payge (Jurgens) the last few years, but she made a big throw there to end the game.”

Coach Houge reminded his young players after the game how important it is to do the little things in a tight game.

“If Abbey doesn’t look at her and freeze her, we don’t have a chance to get the double play. We then made two perfect throws to finish it off,” Coach Houge said. “You have to do the little things. Little things like looking at the runner before she threw to first are important.”

Kahler earned her first win of the season in the circle. She allowed six hits and three earned runs in seven innings. Her night included eight strikeouts and two walks.

Holly Jessen and Wesselink had a pair of hits each. Ritter walked twice, scored a run and had an RBI.

CMB (7-2) will take a five-game win streak into its home game against 3A No. 12 North Polk on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Collins.