CONRAD — The hard part about growing pain, beyond the pain, is the uncertainty of how long it will take to move past it all.

With a roster this young, the BCLUW softball program will have to play with a lot of patience.

The Comets closed out their annual Dave Lee Classic with an 0-3 showing, falling to a trio of North Iowa Cedar League opponents with a pair of shutout losses on Saturday. BCLUW was beaten by formerly ranked Sumner-Fredericksburg 14-0 in four innings and then fell 6-0 to Grundy Center in the finale.

Without the power to fast-forward through time, Comet head coach Megan Yantis is content to watch her youthful squad show growth — no matter how long it takes.

“Even in the first game, like I told the girls, we’re working on just getting things that we need to be doing: making sure we’re hitting our cut-offs and where we need to be — all that kind of stuff,” Yantis said. “Definitely some good ballclubs we played today and we’re just trying to find the small positives and making sure that we’re doing the right things.”

The Comets (4-5) managed just two hits in the loss to Sumner-Fredericksburg — one each by Brooke Ward and Raine Sireno. Sireno, a junior, is one of only three upperclassmen on the roster.

Eighth-grade pitcher Wyllo Collins struck out five, walked only two, but surrendered 14 hits. The Comets were plagued by five errors, leading to six unearned runs.

Livy Schoonover homered and Erin Steege had three hits and four RBIs for the Cougars (10-5).

In the finale, BCLUW faced another former NICL foe in Grundy Center, but the Spartans (10-3) scored a 6-0 triumph in the reunion.

Collins struck out five, walked none, and allowed nine hits and three earned runs. Three more Comet errors were costly, but BCLUW couldn’t contend offensively anyway.

Collins hit a sixth-inning single and Malaya Wallace, a freshman, blooped her first varsity hit into right field in the seventh.

Grundy Center made two errors but none of them led to runs for the Comets, who stranded the bases loaded in the fourth without yet having a hit.

Spartan senior pitcher Allison Koch struck out five and walked three for the win, while Caturella Brown and Evelyn Geerdes had two hits apiece.

It marked the fourth loss in a row for the Comets, who have four Iowa Star Conference games on the docket for this week.

“We’re just going back to the basics and celebrating those small positives,” Yantis said. “You’ve got to take a little step back. Last year we were so experienced they knew what I was thinking and I knew what they were thinking. This year it’s been a little bit more of a learning curve and making sure that they’re on the same page as I am.

“That’ll come with time and as many games as we can get in. The good thing about this group is that they are willing to learn and they’re a good group and they’ve got the energy.”