Softball: Moline back on track with sweep of Alleman
Moline had enough of losing.
First, the Maroons’ 30-game Western Big Six Conference winning streak ended in the second game of a doubleheader last Saturday. Then they lost to Sherrard on Monday.
Meg Schroeder helped put an end to the losing.
She allowed just two hits in combining on a three-hit shutout in Game 1 and then went 3-for-4 at the plate in the second game. She scored twice and drove in another run as Moline swept Alleman 5-0 and 3-1 on Saturday.
“We’ve been practicing pretty hard,” said Schroeder, a returning all-conference player who had never tasted defeat in conference play until last week. “Since we lost to Rock Island, it was critical that we play Moline softball. We did that.”
Moline starting pitchers Schroeder and Courtney Taube each pitched into the sixth inning, and Molly Mitchell finished off each victory as the Maroons improved to 13-3, 7-1 in conference play — even in the loss column with Rock Island (10-8, 5-1).
“Especially with the wind, allowing one run in two games against a team like Alleman is awesome,” Moline coach Mark Gerlach said. “Our defense played with some confidence.”
The Maroons’ offense took advantage of some Alleman defensive missteps perhaps caused by an injury that forced the Pioneers to juggle their defensive alignment.
With two outs in the second inning, Schroeder hit Alleman shortstop Ansley DeVrieze with a pitch, breaking a bone in the junior’s wrist and loading the bases. Schroeder got out of trouble, but Alleman’s problems were just beginning.
Moline scored its first run when Olivia Aten came up with two outs and runners on first and second in the fourth inning. She hit a fly ball into the brisk win blowing in from left field. Left fielder Regan Albrecht, who came in to run for DeVrieze, raced in for the ball, but it hit her glove and bounced off, allowing Mitchell to score from second base.
Moline scored three more runs in the sixth, the first two scoring when Erica Aten (3-for-4) hit a ball sharply to shortstop Jessica Gilliam’s right. Gilliam, who moved from second to short when DeVrieze left, tried to make a backhand stop, but the ball hit her glove and trickled behind her as two runs scored. Aten scored later on Kelsie Wilkins’ single to center field.
“That injury didn’t help,” Alleman coach Mike Ebner said. “The first three runs, we all got a glove on. I’m not saying they were easy plays, but I’m old school, and if you can touch it, you can catch it.”
Alleman’s lone run scored on a fielding error in the sixth inning of Game 2, but Schroeder quickly helped the Maroons make up for it.
She led off the game with a bunt single and scored on Erica Aten’s two-out single. Schroeder added a run-scoring single in the fifth, then scored the final run in the sixth, when she got the second of three consecutive infield hits and later scored on an error.
“I work on knowing what I have to do and getting the job done,” she said.
As a result, the Maroons got the job done and got back on the winning track.
Jon Gremmels can be contacted at (563) 383-2294 or at jgremmels@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.