RedTails Get First Conference Tournament Win
The RedTail Softball Team played in the ICCAC Region 11B conference tournament on Saturday, May 2nd. Because the RedTails lost on Friday, they needed to win both games to stay alive. The RedTails put up a good fight on the day. They won the first game against Northeast Community College before ultimately falling to Iowa Central Community College, ending their season.
Game One: 7 (HCC), 5 (NCC)
The Hawks started out in front in the first elimination game of the day. A home run gave them a 1-0 lead.
The RedTails responded in the bottom of the first. Mackenzie Bridgewater started off with a single and scored on a Mya Chamberlin double. Alyvia Anderson then hit a single to score Chamberlin to give Hawkeye a 2-1 lead.
In the bottom of the second, the RedTails added more runs to their score. Jordan Eads forced an error and moved to second on a Rylie Devlin single. Isabelle Kriegel then hit a three-run home run to make it a 5-1 game.
Northeast added one more run in the third on a single and double to put them within three.
The RedTails weren't done scoring yet, adding one more run in the third. On two outs, Emilee Bergmann started a rally with a double and scored when Eads hit a single.
Northeast made the game interesting when they scored one run in the next three innings, making it a one run ball game.
The RedTails dug deep in the bottom of the sixth for an insurance run. Devlin hit a single and scored when Bridgewater put down a sacrifice bunt and forced the Hawks to make a costly error, giving Hawkeye a 7-5 lead.
A three up, three down inning for the RedTails in the field gave them the win.
At the plate, Kriegel led the way, going 3-4 with three runs batted in. Seven other RedTails added hits in the game. On the mound, Chamberlin got the win, going 5.1 innings, giving up 11 hits, five runs, four earned, and two strikeouts. Lillian McCarty got the save, going 1.2 innings, giving up no hits, no runs, no walks, and one strikeout.
Game Two: 13 (ICCC), 6 (HCC)
The RedTails needed to win game two in order to make it to the championship game on Sunday. Unfortunately, the Tritons were too much for the RedTails to hold off.
Hawkeye started the game off by scoring two runs in the top of the first. Kriegel singled, Chamberlin walked, and Lorenz singled to load the bases. Anderson hit a single to score two, making it a 2-0 game.
Iowa Central responded quickly, scoring six runs the first inning.
Down 6-2, the RedTails weren't done fighting back. Devlin singled and moved to second on a Bridgewater walk. Kriegel then scored Devlin when she hit a single. A three run home run by Lorenz tied the game at six all.
The third inning was quiet for both teams. In the fourth, the Tritons added four runs to give them a 10-6 lead. They added two more in the fourth and one more in the fifth, giving them a 13-6 lead that the RedTails could not bounce back from, ending the game and the season.
At the plate, Lorenz led the way going 2-4 with one run scored and three runs batted in. Six other RedTails added hits. On the mound, Sienknecht took the loss, going 2.1 innings, giving up five hits, four runs, four earned, one walk, and one strikeout. McCarty threw 0.2 innings, giving up six hits, six runs, six earned, one walk, and one strikeout. Chamberlin finished the game, going three innings, giving up foru hits, three runs, two earned, one walk, and three strikeouts.
The RedTails end their season going 24-33 overall and 16-20 in conference play.