Softball: Bulldogs’ split keeps 6 teams in softball race
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By Dearrel Bates | Sunday, July 06, 2008 |
Burlington, down to its final strike, tallied two runs in the top of the seventh inning to keep its championship hopes afloat Thursday night.
Bettendorf, which took a sloppy 10-7 victory in the opener of the Mississippi Athletic Conference doubleheader, had a 1-0 lead with two outs in the seventh and was on the verge of winding up alone atop the league standings.
But the 2-1 triumph by the visiting Grayhounds at the Wendell Hill Complex served to make a mess of the softball standings with one week to go in the regular season.
Three teams have four losses — North Scott at 12-4, Burlington 11-4 and Bettendorf 10-4. But still locked in the race for the title are Davenport Assumption and Muscatine at 11-5 and Pleasant Valley at 8-5. All the teams will wind up playing 18 games, with several of the teams scheduled for makeup games next week.
“We deserved to win the second game, especially our pitcher (Morgan Lintz),” Bettendorf coach Mark Lewis said. “We had the win in the seventh inning and let it get away. We gave them more than three outs in the inning and you can’t do that against a team like Burlington.”
Bettendorf had clung to a 1-0 lead since the fourth inning when a two-strike squeeze bunt by Shelby Michaelis popped over the head of Burlington pitcher Ali Martin. It scored Erika Sevigny who had singled and been doubled to third by Kelsey Rose. But the Bulldogs (20-10 overall) couldn’t score any more runs.
In the Grayhound seventh, Miranda singled to open the inning, and one out later, wound up at third when a sacrifice bunt was thrown away at first. Lintz got a strikeout against Tiffany McVey, but Gonzalez, with an 0-2 count, looped a two-run single to left for the winning runs.
Bettendorf got a two-out runner aboard on a Burlington error in the bottom of the seventh, but Marissa Schlosser fouled out to end the marathon twin bill.
In the opener, Lintz was the hitting start with four hits and five runs batted in. She also came on in relief of Rose in the seventh inning after Burlington scored four runs to narrow the gap and get the tying run to the plate. A strikeout and a bouncer to first got the job done.
“Our kids were dejected after the first game, but scoring four runs in the seventh kept our hopes alive and helped us in the second game,” Burlington coach Larry Heath said. “This MAC race is crazy and is going down to the final game.”
In that opener, Rose had allowed just three runs and had fanned 11 before running into trouble in the seventh. Backing her up offensively, in addition to Lintz was Schlosser with three hits and four runs scored in the Bulldogs’ 13-hit attack. Bettendorf had a 6-3 advantage, then seemingly put the outcome away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth but ending up needing them all.
Report
Pleasant Valley 6-9, Davenport Central 0-5
Pleasant Valley jumped on Davenport Central early in both games of their doubleheader sweep Thursday. Anna Sokolik pitched a three-hit shutout in the first game, and Sammy Stephenson drove in three for the Spartans.
In the second game, PV put up seven runs in the first two innings to claim an early 7-3 lead. Mindy Moses had a double, home run and four RBIs to lead Central.
Davenport North 15-12, Clinton 1-0
Ashley Wailand surrendered only one hit in two games to Clinton as North swept the doubleheader.
North put up 15 runs in three innings in the first game. Carissa Coopman had two hits, including a double for the Wildcats.
Davenport North scored nine runs in the opening inning in the second game and never looked back. Wailand pitched a complete game no-hitter for the win.
Assumption 6-1, Muscatine 0-2
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Alyson Valainis hit a homer and threw a two-hitter to lead Assumption to a 6-0 victory in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader. Maggie Carlin had two hits and two RBIs for Assumption.
Muscatine scored two in the bottom of the sixth and held on as Assumption attempted a comeback in the top of the seventh. Nichole Ganzer and Kassy Middagh each had an RBI for Muscatine.
North Scott 9-9, Davenport West 2-1
North Scott used big fourth innings to sweep Davenport West. In Game 1, the Lancers scored four runs in the fourth. Hallie Eller led the way with two hits, including a triple.
In Game 2, North Scott rang up six runs in the fourth. Jenna Higgins had two hits, including a home run, to lead the Lancers.
Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com.
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