L-S softball falls to rival Iowa Valley in regional opener

SULLY — Iowa Valley scored 10 or more runs in only four games before its current eight-game win streak.

That included a 4-3 loss to the Lynnville-Sully softball team on June 4.

But the Tigers entered the postseason with some red-hot bats, and things didn’t slow down against the Hawks on Monday in the opening round of the Class 1A Region 4 tournament.

Iowa Valley evened the season series with a 19-5 win over the Hawks on July 2 and then ended their season a few days later following a 13-1 road loss.

The Tigers led 4-0 after one and ended the game early with a five-run sixth frame. They scored single runs in the second and third and plated two in the fifth.

Lynnville-Sully’s only run came on an Ava Brummel RBI double in the fourth. That scored Olivia Norrish, who led the Hawks (9-18) with three hits.

Peyton Sharp chipped in two hits and one steal and Jakeira Hay, Olivia Beyer and Alaina Roberts had one hit each to complete the Hawks’ offense.

Sharp ends the season with a team-most 41 hits and 62 total bases. She batted a team-best .494 this summer.

Norrish’s final prep season included a .478 batting average and a team-best .526 on-base percentage.

Kate Harthoorn (9-17) took the pitching loss after allowing 13 runs — six earned — on 12 hits and eight walks with two strikeouts in six innings.

Iowa Valley (14-10) out-hit Lynnville-Sully 14-9, and the Hawks were plagued by four errors.

Lydia Kriegel led the Tigers with three hits, three runs and two RBIs and Maddie Kriegel finished with three hits and three RBIs. Olyvia Grant chipped in three hits and two runs, and the Tigers drew eight walks.

Lydia Kriegel (13-10) got the pitching win after surrendering no earned runs on eight hits and struck out five in six innings.

The Tigers won their seventh straight game when they upset 1A No. 4 Southeast Warren, 7-4, on Wednesday.

They are averaging 6.3 runs per game this summer but have scored 13.67 runs per game during the current win streak and scored 11 runs the game before their most recent loss.

Three of the four remaining teams in 1A Region 4 are from the South Iowa Cedar League.

Iowa Valley faced HLV/TC (19-6) on Saturday in Victor and BGM (18-6) hosted Highland (15-9) on Saturday in Brooklyn.

Notes: Iowa Valley defeated HLV/TC, 16-13, and Highland downed BGM 2-1 to advance to the 1A Region 4 final.