PCM softball comes up short against Gilbert

MONROE — Heading into the bottom of the seventh inning, the Prairie City-Monroe softball team found themselves down by one run against Heart of Iowa Conference foe Gilbert on Monday.

The Mustangs had been in this situation before, already winning two games earlier this season on walk-offs. This time proved not to be the case as PCM couldn’t score and lost 11-10.

“We ran out of hitting,” PCM head coach Scott Bridges said. “We hit the ball well for the first half of the game and then we just didn’t have it. If we’d have had a few more hits I think we win that game.”

Hitting was a strong point for the Mustangs early on in the game. The girls scored nine of their 10 total runs in the first three innings.

Gilbert made a pitching change in the fourth inning, bringing in freshman Jordyn Pike. She shut down PCM, only giving up one run in four innings pitched.

“I didn’t think that she was anything that we couldn’t hit,” Bridges said. “I don’t know why that shut us down. It wasn’t anything that should have thrown us off that much.”

Senior Kenzie Johnson started on the mound and the Tigers (3-12 overall, 3-7 in the HOIC) scored one run off her in the top of the first inning. The Mustangs answered back with three runs in the bottom of the first.

Johnson hit a shot to second base and after an error, sophomore Hailey Schutte scored. Junior Anna Shaver hit an RBI single.

Junior Maya Hegwood brought Shaver in on a high pop up that dropped in front of the center fielder.

Senior Sydney Grouwinkel hit a solo home run and freshman Nessa Johnson hit a two-RBI double to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead after an inning and a half.

The lead wouldn’t last long though as the Mustangs had their best inning in the bottom of the second.

Junior Regan Freland hit a two-run homer over the right-field fence. After Schutte, Johnson and senior Madison Foster found themselves on base, junior Camryn Wignall brought home two runners with a double.

PCM added two more to its lead in the third inning. Freland went home after Schutte hit a ground ball to the pitcher that was mishandled. Johnson brought home Schutte on an RBI single.

Gilbert scored four runs of its own in the top of the fourth inning.

Tiger eighth grader Bella Nelson hit a two-RBI single, junior Samantha Grove scored on a passed ball and junior Peyton Clatt brought home a runner on a sacrifice fly to left field.

Wignall singled in the bottom of the fourth but the score remained 9-8 heading into the fifth inning.

Neither team could muster up any runs in the fifth inning.

Johnson walked three straight batters to start the sixth, and the Mustangs brought in junior Maya Hegwood in relief. Pike scored on a sacrifice fly and Grove brought in a runner on a single before the inning was over.

Foster was walked to start the bottom of the sixth inning. Wignall singled to center field and Hegwood brought home Foster on a line drive single to left.

The Mustangs could only score one though. The score was tied at 10-all heading into the seventh inning.

Eighth grader Belle Hudnut made a running catch in center field to start the inning. Nelson hit a high fly ball right in between center and right field, which led to some miscommunication between Hudnut and senior right fielder Baylee Smith. The ball dropped and Nelson found herself at third base.

Pike hit a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing home Nelson. That run made it 11-10 heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Freland hit a single, but the Mustangs couldn’t capitalize on it. PCM came up one run short.

“We had a couple errors here and there and a couple walks we shouldn’t have done.” Bridges said. “But we just came up a couple hits short. We hit the ball in that game and we win.”

The Mustangs dropped to 2-8 on the season and 2-7 in conference play. The squad plays Nevada at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Nevada.