By the time the season ends, head coach Dave Lee has fit the BCLUW softball team together into what he wants the picture to look like.

On Saturday, the Class 2A No. 15 Comets slid a couple more shapes into place by beating Cedar Falls, 10-2, and 3A No. 13 Union, 8-1, in the BCLUW Comet Softball Invitational Tournament that annual coincides with the town’s Black Dirt Days celebration.

Junior Lauren Anderson pitched in back-to-back games for the first time this season, senior Samantha Ubben shined against a ranked opponent and the Comets (13-4) did the things that have made them successful under Lee’s tenure.

Even when a runner got hung up or cut down, Lee acknowleged the trial-by-fire approach he takes with his younger players and how it helps mold them for future roles with his squad.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE • BCLUW’s Jenna Willett, center, runs up the first-base line as teammate Lizzy Garber, left, prepares to slide in safely ahead of the throw home by Cedar Falls pitcher Tjaden Petersen during the Comets’ eight-run fourth inning.

“Everybody who becomes anything for us starts as a runner,” said Lee.

BCLUW beat up on Cedar Falls (2-13) to the tune of an eight-run fourth inning that featured 12 batters, six hits, a pair of walks and perfectly executed small-ball. Jordyn Beeghly’s two-run double to deep left field was the highlight of the Comets’ eruption, chasing Tigers’ starting pitcher Tjaden Petersen from the circle.

Easton Swanson and Kate Goecke greeted reliever Tehya Tournier with back-to-back singles, but a baserunning blunder kept the Comets from piling on even more.

Cedar Falls scratched together a pair of hits in its ensuing at-bat, but Anderson limited the damage despite having less-than-100 percent of her best, according to Lee.

“We threw Lauren back-to-back because we wanted to have Sam for the Union game, and Lauren fought through the trouble spots she had,” said Lee. “And I thought our defense helped her get out of some stuff. It was a good day for our team in everything we do.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Beeghly, Swanson, Goecke, Ubben and Olivia Hughes had two hits apiece as the Comets totaled 13 in the five-inning win. Anderson struck out three, walked two, hit two batters and allowed just three singles.

And after opening Saturday with a convincing win, BCLUW made even more of a statement by beating a ranked Union Community club by a convincing margin. The Knights (10-5) did not throw their top pitcher, Lee said, but that didn’t seem to bother him too much.

“I would have liked to have seen her against us, but the good thing was they only got one run on us for all the runs they’ve scored this year,” said Lee.

Union, averaging more than seven runs per game going into the ranked showdown with BCLUW, held Peyton Parker out of the circle. Instead, the Comets reached Justine Nagel for five runs in three innings and added three more against Natalie Tecklenburg.

Beeghly had a pair of run-scoring doubles and finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs to lead the Comets, who scored once in the first, four times in the third and added three more in the sixth before Union finally got to Ubben. Parker connected on an 0-2 pitch out of the park for a solo home run, one of only five Knights hits in their first loss in a week.

Ubben got the last word, however, by striking out 11, including the day’s final batter.

BCLUW rides a six-game win streak into Monday’s NICL West Division showdown with 3A No. 14 West Marshall. The unbeaten Trojans (14-0) are the only other team in the conference without a loss.

BCLUW Comet Invitational

At Conrad

Friday’s Games

Waterloo West 16, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 6

Sumner-Fredericksburg 5, Cedar Falls 4

BCLUW 4, Marshalltown 3

Saturday’s Games

BCLUW 10, Cedar Falls 2

Cedar Falls 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4

Marshalltown 4, Sumner-Fredericksburg 2

Union 7, Waterloo West 3

Sumner-Fredericksburg 9, Waterloo West 7

BCLUW 8, Union 1

Marshalltown 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3

——

All-Tournament Team (locals only)

BCLUW: Lauren Anderson, Jordyn Beeghly, Samantha Ubben

Marshalltown: McKaylee Dawson, Regan Mazour, Aspen Chadderdon

Gladbrook-Reinbeck: Haleigh Berendes, Rachel Cooley, Reagan Skovgard.

——

BCLUW 10, Cedar Falls 2

BCLUW 110 80 — 10 13 2

Cedar Falls 000 20 — 2 3 4

Lauren Anderson and Kate Goecke; Tjaden Petersen, Tehya Tournier (4) and Cara Forsblom. W–Anderson. L–Petersen. 2B–BCLUW: Jordyn Beeghly. LOB–BCLUW 4, CF 4.

Cedar Falls 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 4

G-R 013 00 — 4 9 4

Cedar Falls 019 13 — 14 10 2

Rachel Cooley and Taylor Gienger; Avery Canfield and Lex Hesse. W–Canfield. L–Cooley. 2B–G-R: Haleigh Berendes; CF: Lean Forsblom. 3B–CF: Lily Becker, Ashton Syharath. LOB–G-R 6, CF 4.

Marshalltown 4, Sumner-Fredericksburg 2

S-F 000 020 0 — 2 5 1

MHS 200 200 X — 4 5 5

Kaylyn Hoth, Mariah Nuss (4) and Kylie Hoth; McKaylee Dawson and Erica Johnson. W–Dawson. L–Nuss. 2B–MHS: Ciara Feldman. HR–MHS: Aspen Chadderdon (1). LOB–S-F 9, MHS 4.

Marshalltown 14, Gladbrook-Reinbeck 3

MHS 2(10)2 0 — 14 5 1

G-R 030 0 — 3 7 2

Dawson, Kailee Pollard (2) and Johnson, Kyra Feldman (2); Sasha Nagle, Gracey Nagle (2), Alyssa Morgan (3) and Gienger. W–Pollard. L–S.Nagle. 2B–MHS: McKenna Major. HR–MHS: Feldman (1). LOB–MHS 1, G-R 5.

BCLUW 8, Union 1

BCLUW 104 003 0 — 8 9 2

Union 000 001 0 — 1 5 3

Samantha Ubben and Goecke; Justine Nagel, Natalie Tecklenburg (4) and Jordyn Nagel. W–Ubben. L–Ju.Nagel. 2B–BCLUW: Beeghly 2. HR–U: Peyton Parker (3). LOB–BCLUW 7, Union 7.

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