Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

WEST BRANCH – The most effective lineups usually have a solid mix of speed and power.

West Branch showed in its River Valley Conference South Division doubleheader with Tipton on Tuesday it has players that can fill both of those needs.

The Bears also demonstrated they have one player that can do both very well.

Freshman Taylor Thein had a pair of home runs among her seven hits on Tuesday helping West Branch to wins of 9-1 and 10-1 in a doubleheader sweep of Tipton in West Branch.

“Her on base percentage is high and she can run but she is also an RBI leader so it’s pretty hard to choose where I want her in the lineup,” West Branch coach Kaitlyn Mullarkey said. “But I think she is doing great where I have her in the lineup.”

Thein flashed her power with a pair of line drive home runs that helped her rack up seven RBI in the doubleheader sweep.

The freshman centerfield displayed her speed in the outfield as well as legging out a triple and a double while going 7-for-8 with four runs scored in the two wins.

“We definitely have a great mix of speed and power,” Thein said. “I just try to go up there and concentrate on doing my job and moving runners around or trying to drive in a run, really just trying to help the team as much as I can.”

The huge doubleheader continued a strong freshman season for Thein who is hitting .450 with a team-high 16 extra-base hits and 31 RBI.

A nice blend of speed on the bases and pop at the plate, Thein leads the Bears with four home runs and ranks second on the team with 23 stolen bases while hitting in both the three and four spot in the lineup.

“I’ve been going off and on between the three and four spot and either is fine,” Thein said. “I just go out and do my job and try to get on base.”

Hitting in the clean up spot on Tuesday, Thein produced like a number four hitter.

She gave West Branch an early lead with a two-run blast to center field in the opener, tripled and scored in the second and added an RBI single in the sixth of a 10-1 win.

The early home run in the opener was just the start for Thein.

She followed with a 4-for-4, 4 RBI performance in the nightcap that included a line drive three-run home run to left field that put West Branch up 6-0.

“When I was rounding the bases I was thinking about it but after that I have to go out and do my job in the outfield and keep going the rest of the night,” Thein said. “It was a good start but I didn’t think about it too much.”

Thein is now 13-of-16 this week with eight extra-base hits, seven runs and eight RBI.

“She has been doing great this whole season especially these last couple of games she is hitting the ball well,” Mullarkey said. “She is seeing it well and she is doing her job, getting on base for us and getting some runs in for us.”

Thein had plenty of help on Tuesday.

Senior leadoff hitter Dalana Kron had five hits and scored four runs while eighth-grader Nicki Henson had four hits and scored four runs.

“I definitely would say it super helpful for us when we can get those baserunners on at the beginning of the game,” Kron said. “I feel like that makes the defense nervous when we get people that they know that are fast on base.”

A night after allowing 21 runs while being swept by Mid-Prairie the Bears got a pair of strong pitching performances on Tuesday.

Kaiya Luneckas tossed a four-hitter while striking out 11 in the opener while Hanna Tisinger allowed just one unearned run on three hits while fanning seven.

“Yesterday we came off a pretty bad day so I was pretty proud with how our pitchers came back today,” Mullarkey said. “They had 15 plus first-pitch strikes and that is all I can ask for them. They are doing a great job and working hard and were definitely better today than yesterday.”

West Branch improved to 14-21 with the sweep and 6-10 in RVC play while Tipton dropped to 1-30 and 1-15.

The Bears close out the regular season on Thursday at Regina and open regional play by hosting Wapsie Valley at 7 p.m. on Monday.

“I think every game whatever the record is for the other team it’s extremely important now,” Kron said. “We want to play our best because on any night any team can win any game.”

Game 1

Tipton             001  000  0  –   1    4   4

West Branch  231  103  x  –  10  12  1

W – Kaiya Luneckas               L – Morgan Wendel

2B – WB: Maddie Hatfield, Kaylee Montgomery. TIP: Ashley Mente.

3B – WB: Taylor Thein

HR – WB: Taylor Thein

Game 2

Tipton             000  001  0  –  1   3   1

West Branch  300  033  x  –  9  12  4

W – Hanna Tisinger                L – Rylee Conrad   

2B – WB: Taylor Thein, Nicki Henson

HR – WB: Taylor Thein