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Trojans travel comeback paths

West Marshall softball team closes 4-0 weekend with two come-from-behind wins

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - West Marshall catcher Clara Dee, right, snags the throw home to record the force-out of Union Community's Kayla Lambe (23) during the fourth inning of Saturday's game at the Don Bosco Softball Tournament in Gilbertville. West Marshall defeated the Knights 10-5 to close out a 4-0 weekend.

GILBERTVILLE — West Marshall’s weekend warriors were at it again.

The Trojan softball team triumphed twice on Saturday to close out the Don Bosco Tournament with a 4-0 showing, enduring the unbearable heat to overcome its fair share of mistakes and rally past New Hampton and Union Community.

West Marshall (21-8) defeated Dyersville Beckman, 7-3, and Pella Christian, 8-6, on Friday, before scoring a pair of come-from-behind victories on Saturday to improve to 8-1 on weekends this season. The Trojans tallied three runs in the top of the seventh inning to sneak past New Hampton, 7-6, before barreling past Union with seven runs over the last two at-bats to post a 10-5 win.

Regardless of how or why West Marshall had to try to come back from behind in three of four games this weekend, head coach Kim Tarbell saw the qualities she hopes will help her squad when the postseason begins Tuesday night.

“That’s the great thing about this team, very rarely have I seen them give up,” said Tarbell. “They make some mental errors and do some things that hurt us, but usually they’re very good about battling back. That is the great thing about them.”

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE - West Marshall shortstop Katie Price (2) tries to field the throw as New Hampton courtesy runner Claire Quirk (14) successfully steals second base during the third inning of Saturday's game in Gilbertville.

On a day in which the Trojans stranded a grand total of 21 runners on base and committed eight errors defensively, West Marshall captured two wins nonetheless. An offense averaging 7 runs per game came in handy when New Hampton surged past the Trojans with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning during Saturday’s opening round.

The Chickasaws (23-13) and Trojans were even at 3-all through five innings before West Marshall took the upper hand in the top of the sixth. Brooke Snider singled, advanced on a pair of wild pitches and scored on Renae Schaper’s groundout.

New Hampton had an answer, capitalizing on a shallow fly ball that could have been caught and a routine fly ball that was dropped as leadoff batter Lauren Frerichs hammered a triple to the gap in right-center field. Frerichs came across on a sacrifice bunt and the Chickasaws had regained control, 6-4, going into the final frame.

But a pair of defensive miscues for New Hampton helped West Marshall make its comeback. Grace Porter got on base when her fly ball to left field was dropped, and Emma Meyer walked one out later. Kayla Cripps’ fielder’s choice grounder ended with everyone safe and the bases loaded, and Katie Price cut the Trojans’ deficit in half when she was walked to force in a run.

Schaper’s hard-hit grounder up the middle was nabbed by Frerichs, but she was unable to complete the flip to second base for a forceout and both Meyer and Cripps scored to make it 7-6 Trojans.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Price helped freshman hurler Loran Nicholson complete a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh with a flyout and a pair of groundouts, and West Marshall prevailed in spite of stranding 13 runners on base.

Snider had two of the Trojans’ five hits, including a triple to start the game, but New Hampton’s trio of pitchers issued 12 free passes. Schaper drove in four runs and Karisa Blocker plated another with a groundout.

Nicholson scattered nine hits and allowed three earned runs, neither walking nor striking out a batter, to improve to 13-7 in the circle this season. The Trojans made four errors and left 13 runners on base, but still emerged with the win.

West Marshall rounded out its tournament stay with a late surge to defeat Union, 10-5. The Knights (11-15) led 5-3 after five innings until the Trojans tallied four runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh, sparked by some smallball tactics that rattled Union’s youthful defense.

The Knights got the game’s first run in the bottom of the first, and neither team scored again until Porter wrapped her first home run of the season around the foul pole in left field.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

Back in the game with one swing of the bat, West Marshall gave it right back on defense. The Trojans made four errors to complement three Union singles that allowed two runs to score, but the defense stiffened and escaped a bases-loaded jam with no outs. Price pegged Kayla Lambe coming home, connecting with Clara Dee for the forceout at the plate, and back-to-back infield flyouts ended the frame.

Schaper drove in Price with a single to right and Nicholson doubled off the fence in left to bring West Marshall back into a draw with Union, 3-3, but the Knights again answered. Emily Miehe’s bases-loaded double off the fence in right forced home two more for a 5-3 lead, but that was the last hit allowed by Porter.

Struggling to sync up their timing with Miehe’s slower pitching speed, the Trojan bats resorted to smallball to generate the momentum they needed to get over the top. After a one-out walk to Meyer, Cripps reached with a bunt single and both Snider and Price got on when their bunts were misplayed. A pair of Union throwing errors and Schaper’s sacrifice fly brought in four runs that gave West Marshall a 7-5 lead.

Singles by Porter, Morgan Cripps, Karlyn Snider, Meyer and Brooke Snider scored three more runs for the Trojans in the seventh to help Porter (6-1) seal the victory.

“[Winning all four games this weekend] is a good way to go into regionals, but I did see some things we still need to work on,” said Tarbell. “Hopefully we’ll hit those on Monday, but I would say it was a successful weekend.

T-R PHOTO BY ROSS THEDE

“I think the smallball is what got us going. We got some people on base and then we started hitting the ball. That means a lot because I think against some of those better teams you have to be able to mix it up, just like a pitcher has to mix it up to get those big hitters out.”

Porter allowed three earned runs on seven hits, three walks and a hit batter while striking out one. She also had a team-high three hits, including her third-career home run, to lead the West Marshall offense.

Schaper was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while both Kayla and Morgan Cripps went 2-for-4 with a run scored.

West Marshall will go back out on the road in Tuesday’s Class 3A Region 6 quarterfinals, visiting Vinton-Shellsburg (14-21) in a 7 p.m. game in Vinton.

“I don’t know a lot about them, I know their record’s not great, but I also looked at their competition and they’ve played some tougher competition too,” Tarbell said of Vinton-Shellsburg.

At Gilbertville

West Marshall 7, New Hampton 6

WM 201 001 3 — 7 5 4

NH 110 103 0 — 6 9 3

Logan Nicholson and Karissa Blocker; Kerigan Tenge, Keirsten Tenge (4), Savannah Anderson (7) and Kallie Olson. W–Nicholson (13-7). L–Keirsten Tenge. 3B–WM: Brooke Snider; NH: Lauren Frerichs. LOB–WM 13, NH 6.

West Marshall 10, Union 6

WM 000 124 3 — 10 13 4

UNION 100 220 0 — 5 7 5

Grace Porter and Clara Dee, Blocker (7); Emily Miehe and Kayla Lambe. W–Porter (6-1). L–Miehe. 2B–WM: Renae Schaper, Loran Nicholson; U: Miehe. HR–WM: Porter (1). LOB–WM 8, U 8.

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