L-S softball wins eighth in a row, downs EV at home

SULLY — Lynnville-Sully’s softball team came into it’s South Iowa Cedar League contest against English Valleys on Wednesday with six players in the starting lineup hitting better than .400.

The No. 6 batter in the lineup that night has two home runs on the season. And the No. 7 and 8 hitters are now batting close to .400.

The Hawks have options and L-S softball coach Stacey Alberts doesn’t always have easy decisions to make when it comes to filling out a lineup.

“They have been swinging the bat really well right now. We talk a lot about how important it is to have scoring options throughout the lineup,” Alberts said. “The kids have worked really hard to make sure they are that player that can have that scoring opportunity.”

That was the case against English Valleys at home on Wednesday. Three players had two hits and four scored two runs and stole two bases.

It all added up to a 10-0, six-inning victory over the Bears, who were limited to four singles by all-state pitcher Denali Conover.

“In a lot of situations, the further down the lineup you get, the worse the hitters are,” Conover said. “Ours is not that way. We have capable hitters throughout. It’s so much fun to be a part of.”

The win keeps the Hawks (14-4) in the driver’s seat for the SICL championship. They are now 9-0 in league play and hold a one-game lead on Sigourney. Belle Plaine and Colfax-Mingo are sitting at 7-2.

The Hawks and Savages play in a big one on Friday night with first place on the line.

Against English Valleys (8-6 overall, 6-3 in the SICL), L-S did most of its damage early in the game. The Hawks plated three runs in the first inning and five in the second.

The Bears avoided the mercy rule after five but L-S scored a run in the bottom of the sixth to end it early.

The Hawks have won eight straight games and Conover has pitched three consecutive shutouts.

She allowed four singles and struck out five, improving to 12-3 and lowering her earned run average to 1.98.

Over the last two seasons, Conover is 31-6 and has struck out 134 batters in 225 innings. That’s only about .6 strikeouts per inning.

“I am definitely not a power pitcher. I get them to pop up and ground out. And that comes with having a great defense behind me,” Conover said. “This is a team effort. This is how it has always been. We’ve played together a long time. We have good chemistry and I trust them to make plays behind me.”

The Hawks did not make an error in the game. And the Lady Bears only left the infield a handful of times. There’s an art to the way Conover spins the softball. And it’s taken time over the years to get it to its peak.

“We have taken a lot of time to get to know each other and have figured out what her strengths are,” Alberts said. “I think I can help her be successful by calling the right pitches. She just needs to execute what I ask her to throw. She has done a great job with that, especially this year.”

In the first inning, the Hawks took advantage of three EV errors. Korinne Jansen led off with a walk and Caitlin Alberts made it 1-0 with an RBI double.

The other RBI came on sacrifice squeeze bunt by Aliya James.

In the second, Cayler Noun reached on an error and Lily Zylstra singled from the bottom of the order. Another bunt by Megan Van Zante resulted in an RBI.

Jansen walked again, Reagan McFarland reached on a bunt single and Alberts was hit by a pitch. Conover drove in one with a fielder’s choice and James had an RBI infield single to make it 8-0.

The Hawks used their bunt game a lot, stole 10 bases and moved up a base on every opportunity given to them by EV.

“Bunting and running has always been a part of my game. No matter who they are or what speed they are, it’s something I expect them to do,” Coach Alberts said. “And I think you saw that tonight. I want to keep defenses in check and off balance. It makes us more effective if all nine batters can do that.”

L-S added another run in the third when Zylstra doubled, Van Zante singled and Jansen hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

In the sixth, the Hawks closed out the win after McFarland reached on an error, Caitlin Alberts walked and Conover reached on an RBI bunt single.

“It’s nice to have options,” Coach Alberts said. “We spend time on it and that shows I think.

“Whether they are hitting above or below .400, they have skill sets and we try to set it up to compliment each other.”

The Hawks got production from almost every spot in the lineup.

Jansen walked twice, scored two runs, stole two bases and had one RBI, Caitlin Alberts added a double, one run, one RBI, one walk, one hit by pitch and two steals and Zylstra doubled, had two hits, scored twice and stole one base.

Van Zante and Conover each had two hits, Greenlee Smock scored two runs as Conover’s courtesy runner and stole two bases and McFarland chipped in one hit, two runs and two steals.

James tallied one hit and two RBIs and Noun Harder scored one run and stole one base.

The Hawks started the season 6-4 but are now 14-4 and seem to be hitting their stride as the season winds down.

“We started the year out a little rough. But we stopped listening to the rankings talk and tried to just be Lynnville-Sully softball and play to the best of our ability,” Conover said. “We wanted to stay to that core. We come out every game to play our best and attack.”

Notes: The Hawks ended the game with four players still batting better than .400 — Conover at .462, Jansen at .460, McFarland at .435 and Caitlin Alberts at .409. Laci Keen also is batting .395.