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Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

OXFORD –  There wasn’t a lot for first-year head coach Jake Koolbeck to like about the way his Regina team opened the Clear Creek Amana Classic on Friday.

More accurately there was nothing Koolbeck felt good about following a 12-2 five-inning loss to Class 4A second-ranked Carlisle.

“I tell them a lot I don’t mind losses, I don’t like to lose but I really don’t like when we don’t show up at all,” Koolbeck said. “And yesterday I told them straight up we didn’t show up.”

Regina showed up on Saturday.

Class 2A eighth-ranked Regina rebounded from Friday’s lackluster loss with a pair of wins on the final day of the Clear Creek Amana Classic at McAreavy Field in Oxford.

Regina knocked off Central DeWitt 5-2 and followed with a 5-0 win over host Clear Creek Amana (14-12) in the finale of the two-day event.

“Yesterday was really rough but today was definitely more Regina softball,” Regina junior Jess Hunter said. “There was a lot of energy in the dugout, we were focused and ready and excited to play and get back and show what Regina softball really is.”

Katie Bracken struck out 10 in a complete game four-hitter and Hunter smacked a leadoff home run in the 5-0 win over Clear Creek Amana.

Regina scored a run in four of the first five innings in Saturday’s finale as the Regals improved to 17-11 on the season.

“It was important for us just to get back to Regina softball regardless of who we play, regardless who beat us yesterday,” Koolbeck said. “So, to come back and show up and do somethings that we’ve been talking about was really big for us as we get into the final week of the season and start to prepare for postseason.”

Regina seized control early against Clear Creek Amana.

Bracken set the Clippers down in order in the top of the first inning and Hunter slammed the first pitch she saw from Clear Creek Amana starter Raina Henze over the right-center field fence to put Regina up 1-0.

“I haven’t really been aggressive up there and I just thought I might as well be aggressive and see how it goes,” Hunter said. “I tried that and it worked.”

The home run was the second of the season for Hunter and the first leadoff homer of her career.
Hunter’s homer shifted the momentum to the Regal dugout almost immediately and Regina never let it get away.

“It really set the tone,” Hunter said of the leadoff homer. “The girls were really pumped up to play and we had the energy and that helps.”

Bracken wiggled out of her only real jam of the game in the second.

Danielle Wnek and Grace Bedford led off the inning with back-to-back singles and the Clippers loaded the bases with one out when Katie Pitlick drew a walk.

Bracken got Abby Crow to lineout to short and Allie Rummelhart to ground to third to end the inning.

“Bases loaded one out we were hoping to get something squeaked by,” Clear Creek Amana coach Matthew Trosky said. “If we get a run or two runs there I think the energy and the effort changes.”

Regina added singles runs in the second and fourth and broke the game open with two runs in the fifth on singles by Carrigan O’Conner and Bracken and an RBI groundout by Paisley Gardner.

That was more than enough for Bracken who got stronger as the game went on.

After Karsyn Stratton lead off the third inning with an infield single Bracken allowed just one hit, a leadoff single to Grace Bedford in the seventh inning.

“I was definitely getting more comfortable and I just knew that everyone behind me had my back,” Bracken said. “We had some double plays and great defensive plays that really boosted my confidence.”

Bracken struck out eight of the final 11 batters she faced, fanning the side in both the sixth and seventh innings as the final seven CCA outs came via strikeout.

She walked one and didn’t allow a baserunner past first in the final five innings.

“Everything was working for me by the end of the game,” Bracken said. “I felt really good today.”

Clear Creek Amana went 0-2 on the final day of its tournament, falling to Carlisle 7-0 in its first game on Saturday.

“Those two programs are really, really good programs and I think this point and time in the year we needed to find out where we were at,” Trosky said. “I think our girls gave great effort and competed hard today we have things that we have to clean up. If we clean up those little things we see closer ball games and give ourselves more chances but it puts us in a good position knowing where we need to grow in the next two weeks.”

Clear Creek Amana      000  000  0  –  0  4  3

Regina                        110  120  x  –  5  6  2

W – Katie Bracken     L – Raina Henze

HR – ICR: Jess Hunter